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If everyone is paid to do nothing, nothing will get done.
by joshuaheard 13y ago
If everyone is paid to do nothing, nothing will get done.
- phaemon 13y agoThis theory has been proven wrong by the actual experiments into basic incomes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mincome http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mincome http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_income_guarantee#Namibia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_income_guarantee#Namibia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_income_guarantee#India http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_income_guarantee#India
- joshuaheard 13y agoThose are interesting, but one study was temporary, so no one quit their day jobs, and the others were in third world countries which have different economic dynamics.
- phaemon 13y agoYou didn't have any exceptions in your original post; are you adding some now? I'm not very impressed with the "yeah, but those countries are different" reasoning, especially when it's not made clear why the difference is in any way relevent. It does, however, seem to be the go-to excuse for not doing things these days.
- tzs 13y agoThis is trivially obviously wrong. Proof: Bill Gates, Larry Page, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, John Carmack, and probably a good fraction of HN regulars. These people have enough money that they can have a basic guaranteed income (actually much more than that) for life from safe investments anytime they want. If your assertion were correct, they would all have retired long ago.
- joshuaheard 13y agoI agree not having to work doesn't mean you won't. You will still do something you like, for instance a hobby or philanthropy. I doubt bill Gates would be cleaning toilets, busing tables, or the other menial jobs necessary for a functioning society, though.