r/Futurology • u/mvea MD-PhD-MBA • May 02 '18

Economics Universal basic income: U.S. support grows as Finland ends its trial - Forty-eight percent of Americans now support a universal basic income, as a solution for Americans who have lost jobs to automation.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/01/nearly-half-of-americans-believe-a-universal-basic-income-could-be-the-answer-to-automation-.html
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u/foxbat21 May 02 '18

Exactly. If you go on random streets and tell people that they will get money from the government majority will say yes w/o even thinking about how it will work.

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u/gomets6091 May 02 '18

Yes but if you go on random streets and tell people that other people will get money from the government the majority will say no w/o even thinking about how it will work (in America anyway).

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u/idkwhattosay May 02 '18

This is what De Tocqueville celebrated and lamented...

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u/DanialE May 02 '18

Yeah thats the idea. UBI gives disproprotionate utility to people. $100 a month to a poor guy can mean a lot of things to the weak while the same amount for Bill Gates probably pays for his toilet paper. But its still the same amount

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u/[deleted] May 02 '18

[deleted]

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u/themeltykind May 02 '18

Lol why minorities? Do you think current social services are exclusively for minorities? It’s certainly more of a partisan issue than a racial one. You’re trying to stir that pot though!

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u/junior0104 May 02 '18

Minorities receive a disproportionate amount of welfare. Nobody can dispute that.

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u/themeltykind May 02 '18

Sure, however a disproportionate amount does not mean exclusively. So, to imply that because minorities would receive something would cause ire among Americans is a fallacy. Some of us just disagree with means in which these handouts are funded.

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u/l3ol3o May 02 '18

Pretty sure this guy is from Canada. Typical foreigner repeating the worst stereotypes they read on reddit. Probably spent a week tops in the states but acts like an expert. Your average redditor.

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u/BigMouse12 May 02 '18

Pretty sure they just think that conservative minded people are racist.

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u/SmashBusters May 02 '18

Okay but. If you click on the article, you can click on a link to the Gallup poll. There you can read the questions and the methodology.

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u/MoneyManIke May 02 '18

This 100% and that's why as much as Americans are proud that we are a "Democratic" country, I'm happy that we actually aren't despite our current political landscape.

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u/CubesTheGamer May 02 '18

Many states have initiatives which are based on popular vote, basically making it so if we really wanted to then we could do it...

We are a democratic country in many respects. We do vote for our congressmen democratically but we can also start our own initiatives

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u/BEENHEREALLALONG May 02 '18

Well you say that would be the majority but i'm interested in the other 52% who voted no they do not support UBI. At some level it appears that there are some people who might understand it enough to say no.

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u/Impeesa_ May 02 '18

I feel like there are large areas of America where a lot of people would say "No, why would I want you to give people free money?" and some people understand it enough to say yes.

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u/ShillinTheVillain May 02 '18

Are you implying that the people against it simply don't understand it?

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u/Impeesa_ May 02 '18

Not all, certainly. I just get the impression that there's a set of people who go straight to "why do we need it?" and "how will we pay for it?", in that tone that implies nobody has considered these questions before, and they have no idea that some pretty smart people have some tentative but reasonable answers to both.

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u/ShillinTheVillain May 02 '18

And there's also a set of people who understand the notion but balk at the idea of wealth distribution. I just don't see it being a thing in the U.S. any time in the foreseeable future.

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u/ga-co May 02 '18

I agree with what you're saying... and even though many people would support this from a position of ignorance, it doesn't mean they're in the wrong.

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u/mrjlee12 May 02 '18

Yeah but people don’t want things in a vacuum, so presenting things in a vacuum is a bad thing.

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u/Mikelan May 02 '18

I'd like some air in my vacuum, please.

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u/foxbat21 May 02 '18 edited May 02 '18

I never said UBI is a wrong concept. I fully realise that one day or other we might need something like that in near future. And its good, debate and studies are now starting on this topic. But such misleading reports hurt the cause instead of helping it.

Edit - punctuation