5 ms·

> Applicants had to meet only three criteria to qualify: they needed to live in Cook County (which covers the city of Chicago and a large portion of its suburbs

> Applicants had to meet only three criteria to qualify: they needed to live in Cook County (which covers the city of Chicago and a large portion of its suburbs) and have a household income of less than 250% of the federal poverty line—about $69,000 for a family of four—and not be claiming from any other similar schemes. As with all these trials, this is not universal. Universal means we treat 'basic income' as a fundamental right, like public healthcare (in the countries that have it). This means Gates and Bezos would also get $500 as a tax break or income. Unless we decouple this money from our own 'fairness' biases then it will never be _universal_.

bombolo 4y ago
Ah yes the "wait, black/white/mexican/muslim/chinese people would get this too? Then NO WELFARE AT ALL!" problem :(
- tarotuser 4y ago
  I seem to remember a CNN article interviewing citizens just after 2018, when the majority party of republicans were installed. They campaigned on reducing/killing welfare, as they do. The citizenry that were interviewed seriously thought it was "reducing welfare for those people. We didnt think they meant us".
  - mind-blight 4y ago
    Do you have a link to the article/video? I shouldn't be, but I'm always surprised when the racism is that blatant
    - mgkimsal 4y ago
      This isn't quite the same, but "I thought he was going to do good things. He's not hurting the people he needs to be hurting" is a quote from this Vox article https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/8/18173678/trump-shutdown-voter-florida https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/8/18173678/tr...
epistemer 4y ago
I just don't understand how anyone can believe that basic income as a fundamental right will not reprice that income towards zero purchasing power. That just seems obvious since price is relative. It strikes me that the only way for the goal of UBI to work is exactly for it to be not be universal.
- red-iron-pine 4y ago
  UBI isn't going to replace capitalism. There will still be people making cheapo socks and batteries and scalpels in Malaysia or Mexico or wherever. Nothing is stopping you (or someone) for simply importing those and selling them for a dollar, esp. if you can afford to take a hit on the margin -- and you can cuz your rent is paid by UBI. Like, rents and COL are already insanely out of tune with incomes in many places and we don't have UBI.
deleted 4y ago
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bombolo 4y ago

Ah yes the "wait, black/white/mexican/muslim/chinese people would get this too? Then NO WELFARE AT ALL!" problem :(

tarotuser 4y ago
I seem to remember a CNN article interviewing citizens just after 2018, when the majority party of republicans were installed. They campaigned on reducing/killing welfare, as they do. The citizenry that were interviewed seriously thought it was "reducing welfare for those people. We didnt think they meant us".
- mind-blight 4y ago
  Do you have a link to the article/video? I shouldn't be, but I'm always surprised when the racism is that blatant
  - mgkimsal 4y ago
    This isn't quite the same, but "I thought he was going to do good things. He's not hurting the people he needs to be hurting" is a quote from this Vox article https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/8/18173678/trump-shutdown-voter-florida https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/8/18173678/tr...

epistemer 4y ago

I just don't understand how anyone can believe that basic income as a fundamental right will not reprice that income towards zero purchasing power. That just seems obvious since price is relative. It strikes me that the only way for the goal of UBI to work is exactly for it to be not be universal.

red-iron-pine 4y ago
UBI isn't going to replace capitalism. There will still be people making cheapo socks and batteries and scalpels in Malaysia or Mexico or wherever. Nothing is stopping you (or someone) for simply importing those and selling them for a dollar, esp. if you can afford to take a hit on the margin -- and you can cuz your rent is paid by UBI. Like, rents and COL are already insanely out of tune with incomes in many places and we don't have UBI.

deleted 4y ago

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