Comment by maxxxxx
10 years ago
Basic income will require a major shift in attitudes. We already have a situation where even highly profitable companies refuse to pass on to their employees more share of profit than absolutely necessary. Why would the people who make these decisions support basic income? And they are the ones ultimately in power.
I bet even if basic income was implemented media would soon be full of stories of slackers not doing anything and soon politicians would run on a platform of cutting basic income. So I the end it wouldn't look much different from what we have now.
I think it would be much more important to address income inquality. Maybe the share of national income that people like Altman receive is just too high? How about making sure that someone who is working 40 hours per week can actually live off that income ?
The shift in attitude needs to be that slackers are being paid to stay out of the way of people that want to work and that's a good thing
> The shift in attitude needs to be that slackers are being paid to stay out of the way of people that want to work and that's a good thing
The people who work, who I assume are the intended audience of your argument, will also be aware that their income taxes are going directly into the pockets of the slackers.
The perception that hardworking peoples' income tax goes to people who do not deserve it is at the root of much of the opposition to welfare programs today. It's such a strong sentiment that it makes it difficult to get political support for even the rudimentary safety net we have now -- it would be an even more potent political argument against UBI.
Hardworking people would be free to leave paid employment and live on basic income themselves, rather than subsidise the unemployed. I think the hope is that work would become more pleasant as basic income lifts workers' bargaining power and that most people would choose to add to their basic income through paid employment.
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I can't tell if this is an argument you are making, or just an argument you're saying exists, but there are several problems with it.
First, "hardworking peoples' income tax" already goes to people who, in their view, don't deserve it. Not just in the form of welfare and social programs that already exist, but also in the form of massive business in the defense industry or in the environmental industry, depending on where your political views lie.
Second, I'm far, far less concerned with who gets my tax money -- or even, to some extent, how much I have to pay for taxes -- than I am with my own financial future. If someone wants to propose a program which would make my taxes go up but also substantially increase my supply of potential customers ... that sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
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As a taxpayer I'd rather pay people to stay happy than pay police to beat them down when they get uppity.
This is why UBI will never be implemented in the USA. The culture's deep-seated puritanical belief that one's worth comes entirely from their productive work-output--that a living must be "earned" and "deserved" in order to be legitimate.