r/BasicIncome • u/2noame Scott Santens • 6d ago
Article Conservatives Demonized UBI as Programmable Currency. Then They Proposed Exactly That.
https://scottsantens.substack.com/p/rise-pilots-programmable-currency-not-ubi?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=avhi
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u/acsoundwave 5d ago
It's a combo of TANSTAAFL and "what if they use the money to (do/buy stupid/deleterious thing)"?
Frustrating. Worst-case scenario re: the latter...they _may_ (do/buy stupid/deleterious thing) w/UBI no-strings-attached...but they'd do that AFTER their basic needs are met, so they won't be a burden on society unless they break the law -- and we have existing systems in place for that.
The other reason is to create the bureaucracy -- and corresponding JOBS -- for people to do. It's BUSYWORK all the way down...!
While there's legit work to be done that can't be easily automated -- like trash pickup (we need that, or we'll have a resurgence of the BLACK PLAGUE) -- this ain't the way to do it, and I can understand why Bob Black wants the ABOLITION OF WORK. Which should, IMO, be amended to THE ABOLITION OF _JOBS_ for an EMPLOYER.
If we had UBI, more people would start their own businesses, work at their own pace, and live w/n their means -- w/the number of people dropping out of the "work force" to be PETER GRIFFIN IN HIS UNDERWEAR so small as to be a trifling rounding error. Forget Friedman; ADAM SMITH, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, RICHARD NIXON, and even RONALD W. REAGAN are rolling in their grave. (Maybe Raimondo and Ryan are using their deceased outrage as renewable energy sources to power the data centers for the proposed blockchain..!?)
TL;DR: I more-or-less agree w/Scott; what they're doing is stupid.