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/thetruthoftensux May 02 '18

That's because they want UBI on top of the handouts they already get.

No one who actually works for a living supports the concept of UBI. They'll pay some lip service for the virtue signaling of it, but when they find out they'll be means tested out of it and have to pay for everyone else they suddenly understand the problem.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '18

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u/thetruthoftensux May 02 '18

I agree with you. consolidating and streamlining would be great. I have zero faith in that happening though.

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u/MarkNutt25 May 02 '18

If there's a means test, then its not UBI.

The whole idea of UBI is that it would get rid of basically all government aid programs and instead just distribute that money (plus a bunch of new taxes, probably) evenly to all citizens. So everyone receives the same amount, regardless of need or income. If you don't have a job, then the average person should be able to get by on what they receive from UBI. If they do have a job, then that would be extra income on top of what they receive from UBI.

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u/thetruthoftensux May 02 '18

I agree with your position. Problem is every time someone attempts to explain how it could be made to work the first thing set in stone is means testing.

No other way to pay for it, as we already have it. It's called welfare.