by neic on 4/24/18, 8:24 AM with 34 comments
by okket on 4/24/18, 2:29 PM
https://hn.algolia.com/?query=basic%20income&sort=byDate&pre...
by jillesvangurp on 4/24/18, 12:49 PM
Most countries actually do have a form of basic income where they are subsidizing food, shelter, healthcare in some form or another for essentially all people falling outside of the safety net of income, pensions, social security & welfare, charity, etc. I tend to think of basic income as the former without the absolutely massive bureaucratic overhead. An enormous cost saving in other words. To put this in perspective: many European countries spend almost as much on unemployment programs and related bureaucracy as they do on the actual benefits payed to the unemployed.
With a basic income you could abolish minimum wage, make labor cheaper for companies and less risky, make it easier for people to take multiple small jobs to supplement their basic income and reduce their risk, stop forcing people to retire or forcing them to work until they are allowed to retire (both are bad), make all forms of income insurance opt in (pensions, disability benefits, unemployment insurance), etc. It just simplifies things a lot.
The reason this is not happening is that dismantling the existing bureaucracy is highly disruptive and will be hugely unpopular.
by Sharlin on 4/24/18, 11:17 AM
by brownbat on 4/24/18, 11:21 AM
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43866700
Study: https://www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/Finland-2018-OECD-economic-...
by 198739834 on 4/24/18, 2:47 PM
Eventually, these people will somehow have to disappear. This means there will also be less demand for the robots to make things. This would then end with a small population with robots occupying the planet.
Welfare is essentially a way to kill a human's soul. If the choice is to go out slowly like this, then I would say "it is better to die on your feet, then live on your knees".
by Simulacra on 4/24/18, 3:46 PM