5 ms·

I don't necessarily disagree. But how do all these non-workers afford a new iPhone X and a Netflix subscription and apartment? I have no idea but it is a non tr

I don't necessarily disagree. But how do all these non-workers afford a new iPhone X and a Netflix subscription and apartment? I have no idea but it is a non trivial thing to solve.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
maxander 8y ago
An apartment is fairly easy; if you don't have to live near a big city in order to work, land and construction labor is relatively cheap. A Netflix subscription is just data. A subscription and the broadband access to go with it is within most peoples' means now; broadband to the far-flung reaches people go to live when, as mentioned, they're not constrained to urban areas might be a challenge, but before too long LTE data will be sufficient for most purposes (especially in regions with lower population densities!) People don't need a new iPhone X. Period! There's cheap alternatives that do 90% of the same thing. People who would be likely to spring for universal-income-based life are unlikely to be able to afford one in either case. More broadly; food and housing is (given some geographic freedom) trivially accessible and cheap, internet access is almost at the same level, and most of what we consider "nice things" are trivially replaceable with much cheaper "nice things" that simply haven't had the same level of advertisement support. There's no material barrier to people living good lives on universal-basic-income-level resources.
konschubert 8y ago
You will always be better off with a job because there has to be an incentive to work. But those with a job could subsidize those without so they can stay in school or live life in decency. Like, mid-range Android, not iPhone 10. But still decent.
firethief 8y ago
Bucky was suggesting that it's no longer inherently necessary for everyone to have a "job" as we see it. You're pointing out that our society demands it. These views are definitely not in disagreement. In the kind of post-scarcity society Mr. Fuller was talking about, having a place to live and the other essentials of life would not be contingent on earning one's keep; if it were, people wouldn't be free to go back to school and think about the things they want to think about.

I don't necessarily disagree. But how do all these non-workers afford a new iPhone X and a Netflix subscription and apartment? I have no idea but it is a non trivial thing to solve.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

maxander 8y ago

An apartment is fairly easy; if you don't have to live near a big city in order to work, land and construction labor is relatively cheap. A Netflix subscription is just data. A subscription and the broadband access to go with it is within most peoples' means now; broadband to the far-flung reaches people go to live when, as mentioned, they're not constrained to urban areas might be a challenge, but before too long LTE data will be sufficient for most purposes (especially in regions with lower population densities!) People don't need a new iPhone X. Period! There's cheap alternatives that do 90% of the same thing. People who would be likely to spring for universal-income-based life are unlikely to be able to afford one in either case. More broadly; food and housing is (given some geographic freedom) trivially accessible and cheap, internet access is almost at the same level, and most of what we consider "nice things" are trivially replaceable with much cheaper "nice things" that simply haven't had the same level of advertisement support. There's no material barrier to people living good lives on universal-basic-income-level resources.

konschubert 8y ago

You will always be better off with a job because there has to be an incentive to work. But those with a job could subsidize those without so they can stay in school or live life in decency. Like, mid-range Android, not iPhone 10. But still decent.

firethief 8y ago

Bucky was suggesting that it's no longer inherently necessary for everyone to have a "job" as we see it. You're pointing out that our society demands it. These views are definitely not in disagreement. In the kind of post-scarcity society Mr. Fuller was talking about, having a place to live and the other essentials of life would not be contingent on earning one's keep; if it were, people wouldn't be free to go back to school and think about the things they want to think about.