4 ms·
UBI takes away freedom (in the form of $ ie time, energy & planning) to try anything but what the fed. govt. decides. States and private organizations can do i
by lcall 6y ago
UBI takes away freedom (in the form of $ ie time, energy & planning) to try anything but what the fed. govt. decides.
States and private organizations can do it better, but that is hampered when the fed govt takes so much of the resources (and, as I mentioned (and linked to more), it often does things badly.
And there is a scripture in my belief system, that if one doesn't work, one doesn't eat. God can provide, and this life is not the end (my web site says how I know this personally).
But even (to me at least) logically there is no inherent right for one who does not seek work to take resources from one who does.
The USA fought a War of Independence in the 1770s, in part to be free from control of individuals by faraway people, which to me is the same as the fed govt taking taxes and giving resources to others that I did not choose to give to.
Edit: If we were 5 families on one desert island, there is no inherent right of one to steal food (or the results of other productive labors) from another. If I plan and save and work hard, why does anyone have the right to tell me I have to support someone else who does not choose to live the same principles? (cf. libertarianism.)
Edit: UBI is like forcing one family on the island to support the drug habit of another (or whatever lifestyle choice, agree or disagree), only with federal power and inefficiency. Local-decision-making can do a much better job, because you have the chance of knowing individuals personally and help them. The public/private humanitarian and welfare partnerships in Utah are a good example of this (probably there is a link somewhere on my web site with details).
That is we we have states, aka "laboratories of democracy" who can then learn from each other.
Edit: as far as birth goes, rich vs. poor, I observe at least one private organization (my church, but of course there are many others) working hard (with affordable educational opportunities, financial help, mentoring, food, humanitarian aid, etc etc) to lift anyone who wants to be able to live, and have peace. (I also believe the rich are responsible to help others, and that we all will someday answer to God for how we treated others. Again, web site in profile says how I know this, in great detail.)
(Edit: FWIW, I have not taken a position on what should happen when the rich get too rich and the poor get too poor, nor how that should happen. I think the rich should keep in mind that that is what starts revolutions, though I believe our constitutional order is the most important thing of all (like more important than UBI pro or con)--such things should be done lawfully and our constitution allows us to work things out, hopefully at the state level first an foremost. But to support idleness is a bad idea as I have tried to explain.)
Edit: Maybe my reasoning is not as persuasive to you as it is to me, and certainly we are individuals with the right to decide for ourselves. That individual right I believe extends also to deciding for ourselves what we will do with the fruit of our labors, with few exceptions (ie for common defense, safety) written as powers granted by the people to a constitutionally limited federal government. Again, I hope we can leave the rest to the states to try things and learn from each other what works well.
- chillacy 6y agoI think you've summed it up that your beliefs are very specific and if anyone disagrees with one of them they're unlikely to agree with the rest of them. I will also note that libertarian principles are not very popular with the electorate because most people will gladly sacrifice abstract freedom for {economic growth|job opportunities|reduce poverty|etc}.
- lcall 6y agoHmm. I think they are valuable and can be considered separately, like: 1) that we have a constitution that limits federal authority (for what I think are many good historical reasons); 2) socialism/communism has caused big problems, also with many extensively painful historical examples. I relate this to "government cares for us"; 3) my beliefs about the nature of life, purpose of government, importance of freedom to choose what one does with one's earnings, etc., also could be considered separately. And that I have learned for myself of God's reality. 4) many others, individually also, I think...if were to take more time on them each. Like my personal experiences with the worst customer service I've ever had, being from federal agencies. Etc. But we don't have to, of course. :)
- chillacy 6y agoGood fanout, but consider: 1. is normative, it assumes the reader respects the all of the (US) constitution's values. Two possibilities: (a) the reader is from outside the US (this article is about Finnish basic income after all) and (b) the reader is american but disagrees with the constitution's values (which ironically is somewhat in spirit with the constitution anyways, free speech and all) 2. This one is somewhat of a problem of semantics if you've ever tried to argue with hardline socialist/capitalists because there is no purely socialist or purely capitalist state out there, even in the US we have plenty of government controls. Hardline socialists are eager to distance themselves from historical failures (it wasn't "real" socialism) and capitalists are eager to distance themselves from supposed market failures (crony capitalism). (I definitely have personal bias to the latter though. There are plenty of distorted incentives which create market failures, yet I will admit that markets left to their own devices often result in sub-optimal outcomes through a process like the prisoner's dilemma) 3. Not necessarily communicatable to every reader but maybe similar readers would be able to relate. 4. Also not communicatable to every reader but I can believe that one :) though the worst customer service I've ever had was from comcast (caused by either {lack of government regulation | government regulation creating monopolies } depending on who you ask), and they refused to refund a double billing mistake until I ended up having to use some FTC website to make a formal complaint, at which point they finally assigned me a real customer service person from their business division.