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Every time universal basic income is discussed someone claims it can't be done because if we were to do this tomorrow the costs would be astronomical. That's t
by Expez 11y ago
Every time universal basic income is discussed someone claims it can't be done because if we were to do this tomorrow the costs would be astronomical. That's true, but it's a bit like stating in 1950 that the world will never see personal computing because a computer costs millions and there are billions of people.
Universal basic income amounts to (providing or) paying for food, clothing and shelter. What is the cost of food when we have labgrown meat, the robots till the farm and self-driving cars deliver it everywhere?
What's the cost of shelter with industrial scale 3d-printing and robotic assembly?
What is the cost of providing everyone with basic clothing when all the factory workers are replaced with robots?
Stop worrying about the price of everything and start thinking in terms of scarcity. Will the stuff required for basic human survival still be prohibitively scarce in 5 years, 10 years, 50 years?
- dagw 11y agoWhat's the cost of shelter with industrial scale 3d-printing and robotic assembly? The cost of land plus the cost of raw materials plus the cost of extending the necessary infrastructure, so basically the same as today. What is the cost of providing everyone with basic clothing when all the factory workers are replaced with robots? The cost of raw materials plus the cost of machinery, so basically the same as today. Basic labor is incredibly cheap today, (desirable) land and resources aren't.