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I don’t disagree with you about UBI, but I have to say it makes me feel sad. In my experience most people really want meaningful work, and the fact that it puts

I don’t disagree with you about UBI, but I have to say it makes me feel sad. In my experience most people really want meaningful work, and the fact that it puts food on the table makes a lot of otherwise meh work more satisfying and meaningful. At the end of the day it’s more important that people can meet their needs, and if UBI does that, a lot of people will be able to improvise some interesting things to apply themselves to, which I think will be great for them. But a lot of people will also sit on the couch and watch TV all day, feeling there’s no point to life. We’ll have all kinds of new and unforseeable second order effects. I also worry that the fundamental problem is not so much income but cost of living. The way things work today, any amount of UBI that you pay but just drive up the rent. If we don’t significantly increase housing supplies to meet demand, I don’t see how we can break that loop.

Ericson2314 6y ago
> I don’t disagree with you about UBI, but I have to say it makes me feel sad. In my experience most people really want meaningful work, and the fact that it puts food on the table makes a lot of otherwise meh work more satisfying and meaningful. I think the remaining work will be such more meaningful that it will be net dealienation. I think less stress and more free time begets curiosity, so I think it's fair to say people could get a lot out of work than they do from their current drudgery. In the long term, think large amounts of leisure time but ones does "tours of duty" in each of the core industries that power modern society as part of liberal education of how society functions. > I also worry that the fundamental problem is not so much income but cost of living. The way things work today, any amount of UBI that you pay but just drive up the rent. If we don’t significantly increase housing supplies to meet demand, I don’t see how we can break that loop. See https://phenomenalworld.org/analysis/universal-basic-income-the-city https://phenomenalworld.org/analysis/universal-basic-income-... for the results of some modeling. Rent in absolute terms and as a portion of income went down!

Ericson2314 6y ago

> I don’t disagree with you about UBI, but I have to say it makes me feel sad. In my experience most people really want meaningful work, and the fact that it puts food on the table makes a lot of otherwise meh work more satisfying and meaningful. I think the remaining work will be such more meaningful that it will be net dealienation. I think less stress and more free time begets curiosity, so I think it's fair to say people could get a lot out of work than they do from their current drudgery. In the long term, think large amounts of leisure time but ones does "tours of duty" in each of the core industries that power modern society as part of liberal education of how society functions. > I also worry that the fundamental problem is not so much income but cost of living. The way things work today, any amount of UBI that you pay but just drive up the rent. If we don’t significantly increase housing supplies to meet demand, I don’t see how we can break that loop. See https://phenomenalworld.org/analysis/universal-basic-income-the-city https://phenomenalworld.org/analysis/universal-basic-income-... for the results of some modeling. Rent in absolute terms and as a portion of income went down!