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Even in their 'classic years', communist states could never provide UBI to their citizens. Sure, the state employed most people outside the agricultural sector,
by sinuhe69 2y ago
Even in their 'classic years', communist states could never provide UBI to their citizens. Sure, the state employed most people outside the agricultural sector, but even so, they have to grade salaries and food ratios. As far as I know, at no point in the history of communism have they been able to provide a basic income without work, let alone a UBI.
Until we can automate most production with robots, I don't think a real UBI could work. Ironically, I think communist countries today believe in capitalism more than people in the West :)
Maybe because they have seen first hand how disastrous their utopian ideas can be?
- exe34 2y agomy question is what happens when nobody can afford the stuff that's being produced anymore? I understand that communism hasn't worked so far, but if you don't feed the hordes, you can get Luigied.
- sinuhe69 2y agoThe "technological unemployment" you mentioned can only happen if robots/AI replace most of the jobs on the market. But then it means that we have already automated most production and therefore UBI could be an option (taxing the machine). Otherwise, there will always be a demand for labor. It's not just production that the world economy is about. I see no limit to growth in services such as health, education and entertainment once basic provision is secured.
- exe34 2y agoyou assume that people can be retrained instantly or that they can afford to support themselves while they retrain, or even that they even have the capability to learn new trades/skills. in practice in the past I think a lot of people have simply dropped out of the workforce and relied on welfare.