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> When I leave the office building I work at the end of my day, the janitors are just showing up. They probably already only get paid the basic livable wage (pr

> When I leave the office building I work at the end of my day, the janitors are just showing up. They probably already only get paid the basic livable wage (probably less), so why would they show up to work if they were getting the paycheck anyways? There's something that deeply bothers me about the notion that the above is a bad thing. Yes, you would no longer have access to low-wage janitorial services. But that's your problem, not your janitor's. Do you think he wants to be scrubbing toilets for a subsistence wage? The world will not fall apart for want of janitors, or garbagemen, or baristas. Imagine a world where, at some time t=0, there are zero people filling these jobs because of a basic income. It truly doesn't take all that much enterprise to see an opportunity in a world with no janitors. At t=1, there would still be janitors, but there would be fewer of them, the ones that exist would be better-paid, because they're now working for something approaching the wage that you might demand if someone asked you how much it would cost to clean their office.

Zimahl 13y ago
Do you think he wants to be scrubbing toilets for a subsistence wage? Thanks for proving my point. No, I highly doubt he wants to scrub a toilet for a subsistence wage. I think a janitorial job would go empty for a long, long time. So now, instead of me focusing on my job, I have to take time out of my day to do something I'd pay someone for. It would be better if you get your basic livable wage but still have to work (exceptions made for childcare, students, disability, etc.) and depending on the job you get what the market deems as extra. So, if you get $20k per year as a livable wage (figure just chosen for easier math) and a job would've paid $25k, you get the $5k difference in your paycheck. This would help keep the low-interest, but easy, jobs staffed.
- LockeWatts 13y ago
  " I have to take time out of my day to do something I'd pay someone for. " But apparently you wouldn't pay enough to have them do it, so it's more valuable to you to use your time to do that job. If you paid more, you could more effectively utilize your time. "So, if you get $20k per year as a livable wage (figure just chosen for easier math) and a job would've paid $25k, you get the $5k difference in your paycheck. This would help keep the low-interest, but easy, jobs staffed." So you would only be getting paid 5k then. If I don't work at all, I get 20k. If I work, I get 25k. I think that's what you're suggesting. Unless you're suggesting you get nothing if you don't work, at which point we don't have a basic income anymore, and this idea is moronic.
- deleted 13y ago
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Zimahl 13y ago

Do you think he wants to be scrubbing toilets for a subsistence wage? Thanks for proving my point. No, I highly doubt he wants to scrub a toilet for a subsistence wage. I think a janitorial job would go empty for a long, long time. So now, instead of me focusing on my job, I have to take time out of my day to do something I'd pay someone for. It would be better if you get your basic livable wage but still have to work (exceptions made for childcare, students, disability, etc.) and depending on the job you get what the market deems as extra. So, if you get $20k per year as a livable wage (figure just chosen for easier math) and a job would've paid $25k, you get the $5k difference in your paycheck. This would help keep the low-interest, but easy, jobs staffed.

LockeWatts 13y ago
" I have to take time out of my day to do something I'd pay someone for. " But apparently you wouldn't pay enough to have them do it, so it's more valuable to you to use your time to do that job. If you paid more, you could more effectively utilize your time. "So, if you get $20k per year as a livable wage (figure just chosen for easier math) and a job would've paid $25k, you get the $5k difference in your paycheck. This would help keep the low-interest, but easy, jobs staffed." So you would only be getting paid 5k then. If I don't work at all, I get 20k. If I work, I get 25k. I think that's what you're suggesting. Unless you're suggesting you get nothing if you don't work, at which point we don't have a basic income anymore, and this idea is moronic.
deleted 13y ago
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