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This was a conservative idea. Nixon proposed it in 1969. Others have since of course. In many ways it seems superior to me than welfare. Less bureaucracy, "no

This was a conservative idea. Nixon proposed it in 1969. Others have since of course. In many ways it seems superior to me than welfare. Less bureaucracy, "no social workers" is what the conservatives liked. I will add, I found the analogy to be torturous and I had to stop by the jet pack part.

logfromblammo 12y ago
If you had ever worked in or near government, you would have been disappointed that the analogy was not ridiculous enough. The aqua-hoverboard is essentially a powerful water pump attached to a fire hose. The single rider stays above water by spraying all the other people in the face with his jet stream. Actual government is dumber. I didn't see anywhere in the analogy a requirement that some swimmers be required to carry 20-lb rocks. No one had their life jacket taken away because it was either carcinogenic or insufficiently fire-retardant. No one was given a bucket, with which to move the water from one corner of the room to the other. No one was fined for indecency after converting their own pants into a flotation device. None of the life jackets were nailed to the floor, for use by the people who have already drowned and sunk to the bottom. But on the other side of the coin, no one hired a swim instructor for $20/hr for 10 hours, either. The thing about government is that it simultaneously does useful and efficient things, and also incredibly stupid and wasteful things. That almost makes it worse, to see the one little thing that shows how it could be, and compare that to the way it actually is. The simpler an idea is, the less likely it is that adding government to it will screw it up. That's why basic income is so simple. Every additional detail is just an additional opportunity for someone to get it wrong, whether that is accidental, due to incompetence, or intentional, for profit.

logfromblammo 12y ago

If you had ever worked in or near government, you would have been disappointed that the analogy was not ridiculous enough. The aqua-hoverboard is essentially a powerful water pump attached to a fire hose. The single rider stays above water by spraying all the other people in the face with his jet stream. Actual government is dumber. I didn't see anywhere in the analogy a requirement that some swimmers be required to carry 20-lb rocks. No one had their life jacket taken away because it was either carcinogenic or insufficiently fire-retardant. No one was given a bucket, with which to move the water from one corner of the room to the other. No one was fined for indecency after converting their own pants into a flotation device. None of the life jackets were nailed to the floor, for use by the people who have already drowned and sunk to the bottom. But on the other side of the coin, no one hired a swim instructor for $20/hr for 10 hours, either. The thing about government is that it simultaneously does useful and efficient things, and also incredibly stupid and wasteful things. That almost makes it worse, to see the one little thing that shows how it could be, and compare that to the way it actually is. The simpler an idea is, the less likely it is that adding government to it will screw it up. That's why basic income is so simple. Every additional detail is just an additional opportunity for someone to get it wrong, whether that is accidental, due to incompetence, or intentional, for profit.