4 ms·
Like I said, this is only the most straightforward problem with UBI. The most damning problem with UBI is that it's still capitalism, i.e. the capitalists will
by whitemary 4y ago
Like I said, this is only the most straightforward problem with UBI. The most damning problem with UBI is that it's still capitalism, i.e. the capitalists will remain in control. As a result, UBI recipients, like the poor in developed countries today, will remain what Karl Marx called a "reserve army of labor." The UBI will always fall short of what is necessary for a healthy or dignified existence. This instrumentalized suffering, just like the permanent unemployed class in the US today, is a crucial component of industrial capitalism. Effectively, under UBI, nothing will fundamentally change.
I do support UBI because it will probably prevent some number of deaths of despair, but capitalists will never let UBI happen for this reason. The reserve army of labor must be trimmed and maintained to prevent a worker uprising, which is the primary function of the opioid crisis.
- sologoub 4y agoSadly, communism worked out even worse. When communists realized that NEP worked too well and peasants started to get out of poverty, they instituted terror to “prune” the population and “remind them why they need” those said communists (a reference to V for Vendetta movie line). Just the best known example, there were also 1920s razkulachivanie and such, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Purge https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Purge
- mjevans 4y agoCommunism != Socialism Greed, seemingly fundamental human nature, causes corruption and suffering. I don't think we've yet developed a society or tool that is immune from such issues, though competition among providers does seem to help.
- whitemary 4y agoYour narration is so nonsensical and unserious that even the link you yourself shared undermines it, and of course it does. Wikipedia is a well-known liberal anti-communist institution, but at least they do some diligence.