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Yes, this has been proposed. However, I do not like it. I believe people know and should have control of how they spend a basic income. Basic assets sounds to m

Yes, this has been proposed. However, I do not like it. I believe people know and should have control of how they spend a basic income. Basic assets sounds to me a lot like "everyone gets a Lada" the horrible car of the Soviet Union. Moreover, I do not see how this is better than just giving an income. Income is more flexible and fungible. There are already economies of scale in a free market.

rossenberg79 7y ago
> I believe people know and should have control of how they spend a basic income. Why? If it’s not being spent on those things anyway isn’t the person just making a financial mistake?
- SubiculumCode 7y ago
  Because I believe in a free people. I believe in market solutions. I believe people should be allowed to take risks. I believe people often know what they need more than someone who lives far away.
  - luckylion 7y ago
    And when they make a mistake, do we just give them new money because they've put all the old money into the lottery?
    - jdblair 7y ago
      Yes, next month we do.
      - luckylion 7y ago
        I personally have a few extra calories that can last me through a few weeks if need be. What about those that can't? Let them starve? Create a welfare service to save them? Hope for charities? Sounds a lot like we'd just push the problem a few meters away and then run into it again.
    - basicplus2 7y ago
      Lottery takings should go to help paying for welfare
  - rossenberg79 7y ago
    They can still do those things, but basic income isn’t something for you to be taking risks with, it’s the income you need to live, and should be spent as such. Anything else is irresponsible.
  - Jedi72 7y ago
    Believe away Dorothy, reality is a small % of the population, i.e. millions of people, are pretty much screw-ups. Welfare is the blanket solution for how we deal with it. Giving everyone BI and taking away peoples welfare is going to fail in all these cases, so will fail generally. Even here in Australia where we have good welfare we still have government housing, soup kitchens and tonmes of other real-assistance programs.
    - SubiculumCode 7y ago
      Having lived poor, known a lot of poor people, and having lived on welfare as I got my PhD. (first gen college student), I can say that you are wrong about most poor people. They generally make good decisions, given their situation and means. Those that don't are usually addicted to drugs, and they already trade their food benefits away for those drugs. Welfare (at least in America) has all the wrong incentives that make it difficult to improve your situation (e.g. lose benefits and all your time if you get a minimum wage job, and who is going to watch the kids now).
      - Jedi72 7y ago
        Yes there are poor people who work hard. There are also rich people who become crackheads. I never actually mentioned poor people I just said some people are screw-ups, which is true.
  - mantas 7y ago
    They're not free people if they live on UBI handouts.
    - SubiculumCode 7y ago
      Its not a handout in my American Centric opinion. It is a dividend or inheritance from our forefathers building a kick-ass country the likes of which earth has never before seen.
      - mantas 7y ago
        IMO it's handout if it's government deciding how much someone gets. And when it's not based on the person's contribution. You can't be a free man if your wellbeing 100% depends on someone else's decisions regardless of your actions.
grahamburger 7y ago
But what if someone gambles away their basic income, or has it scammed from them? Tough luck, back to the streets?
- SubiculumCode 7y ago
  They get some more next month. The idea of basic income is not equality of outcomes, its equality of opportunity. The problem I have with most socialist policies is not that funds shouldn't be provided to help the poor/everyone, but because the plans often are designed around the belief that individuals should not be trusted to make decisions about their own lives. I believe in a fiscally liberal libertarian policy..Federal money should be distributed to individuals and local governments without any strings attached, because only the Federal government has the power of printing currency to meet the public good. In aggregate, I do trust people to make good decisions, and those that do will get rewarded.
  - luckylion 7y ago
    > They get some more next month. So no food for them for the rest of the month? Good luck with that.
    - tuukkah 7y ago
      If you lose all your money so that you have nothing to eat for the month, then you need social care for sorting out issues.
      - luckylion 7y ago
        That's kinda my point: UBI is supposed to replace all other welfare programs. There won't be anything else.
        tuukkah 7y ago
        The way I have understood UBI, it would replace benefits and allowances but not programs such as universal health care or universal social care - I suppose it depends on how you define a welfare program.

rossenberg79 7y ago

> I believe people know and should have control of how they spend a basic income. Why? If it’s not being spent on those things anyway isn’t the person just making a financial mistake?

SubiculumCode 7y ago
Because I believe in a free people. I believe in market solutions. I believe people should be allowed to take risks. I believe people often know what they need more than someone who lives far away.
- luckylion 7y ago
  And when they make a mistake, do we just give them new money because they've put all the old money into the lottery?
  - jdblair 7y ago
    Yes, next month we do.
    - luckylion 7y ago
      I personally have a few extra calories that can last me through a few weeks if need be. What about those that can't? Let them starve? Create a welfare service to save them? Hope for charities? Sounds a lot like we'd just push the problem a few meters away and then run into it again.
  - basicplus2 7y ago
    Lottery takings should go to help paying for welfare
- rossenberg79 7y ago
  They can still do those things, but basic income isn’t something for you to be taking risks with, it’s the income you need to live, and should be spent as such. Anything else is irresponsible.
- Jedi72 7y ago
  Believe away Dorothy, reality is a small % of the population, i.e. millions of people, are pretty much screw-ups. Welfare is the blanket solution for how we deal with it. Giving everyone BI and taking away peoples welfare is going to fail in all these cases, so will fail generally. Even here in Australia where we have good welfare we still have government housing, soup kitchens and tonmes of other real-assistance programs.
  - SubiculumCode 7y ago
    Having lived poor, known a lot of poor people, and having lived on welfare as I got my PhD. (first gen college student), I can say that you are wrong about most poor people. They generally make good decisions, given their situation and means. Those that don't are usually addicted to drugs, and they already trade their food benefits away for those drugs. Welfare (at least in America) has all the wrong incentives that make it difficult to improve your situation (e.g. lose benefits and all your time if you get a minimum wage job, and who is going to watch the kids now).
    - Jedi72 7y ago
      Yes there are poor people who work hard. There are also rich people who become crackheads. I never actually mentioned poor people I just said some people are screw-ups, which is true.
- mantas 7y ago
  They're not free people if they live on UBI handouts.
  - SubiculumCode 7y ago
    Its not a handout in my American Centric opinion. It is a dividend or inheritance from our forefathers building a kick-ass country the likes of which earth has never before seen.
    - mantas 7y ago
      IMO it's handout if it's government deciding how much someone gets. And when it's not based on the person's contribution. You can't be a free man if your wellbeing 100% depends on someone else's decisions regardless of your actions.

grahamburger 7y ago

But what if someone gambles away their basic income, or has it scammed from them? Tough luck, back to the streets?

SubiculumCode 7y ago
They get some more next month. The idea of basic income is not equality of outcomes, its equality of opportunity. The problem I have with most socialist policies is not that funds shouldn't be provided to help the poor/everyone, but because the plans often are designed around the belief that individuals should not be trusted to make decisions about their own lives. I believe in a fiscally liberal libertarian policy..Federal money should be distributed to individuals and local governments without any strings attached, because only the Federal government has the power of printing currency to meet the public good. In aggregate, I do trust people to make good decisions, and those that do will get rewarded.
- luckylion 7y ago
  > They get some more next month. So no food for them for the rest of the month? Good luck with that.
  - tuukkah 7y ago
    If you lose all your money so that you have nothing to eat for the month, then you need social care for sorting out issues.
    - luckylion 7y ago
      That's kinda my point: UBI is supposed to replace all other welfare programs. There won't be anything else.
      - tuukkah 7y ago
        The way I have understood UBI, it would replace benefits and allowances but not programs such as universal health care or universal social care - I suppose it depends on how you define a welfare program.