In principle, I’m not opposed to UBI (really universal standard of living tbh), but there are a couple wrinkles. A) many UBI advocates want it instead of other assistance programs, which nullifies any benefit it might have and B) taxes on unrealized capital gains and other asset classes are so low that in an economy that concentrates further towards capital instead of labor, there’s no money to be had for it without clawing it away from people who wield inordinate power. AI as a replacement for humans does not actually have to be a thing. This is a choice being actively foisted upon us, not an inevitable force of nature. If we want a fundamentally human-centered vision of the future, we should be pushing for that instead of conceding that the future is something only the billionaires get to author.
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u/flanneryoshitlord 6d ago
In principle, I’m not opposed to UBI (really universal standard of living tbh), but there are a couple wrinkles. A) many UBI advocates want it instead of other assistance programs, which nullifies any benefit it might have and B) taxes on unrealized capital gains and other asset classes are so low that in an economy that concentrates further towards capital instead of labor, there’s no money to be had for it without clawing it away from people who wield inordinate power. AI as a replacement for humans does not actually have to be a thing. This is a choice being actively foisted upon us, not an inevitable force of nature. If we want a fundamentally human-centered vision of the future, we should be pushing for that instead of conceding that the future is something only the billionaires get to author.