Topic: WaPo Idiocy: The Universal Basic Income

[trapeze]

This has to be read to be believed.

In light of the recent Oregon Medicaid study, several people have discussed the idea of taking parts of the social insurance system and replacing them with cash benefits. This naturally brings up the debate about whether it should be a policy goal for the United States to adopt a universal basic income (UBI). These poverty-level targeted incomes are universal and unconditional, so everyone would get them regardless of their income, status or work participation. Wonkblog’s Dylan Matthews wrote an overview of universal basic incomes and some proposals for such a system last year.

Though establishing a basic income was once at the forefront of politics, it has since become more of a Utopian, abstract project. But sometimes it is helpful to step back from the day-to-day wonk work and think Utopian.

First, what are some advantages of providing a universal basic income? To those on the left, a UBI would create greater equality by ending poverty and providing a minimum living standard. It would also increase bargaining power for workers, who could demand better working conditions with a safety cushion. As Erik Olin Wright argues in Envisioning Real Utopias, such bargaining power “will generate an incentive structure for employers to seek technical and organizational innovations that eliminate unpleasant work,” which would “have not just a labor-saving bias, but a labor-humanizing bias.”

As usual the comments that follow...

[IronDioPriest]

Teh stoopit, it burns.

[Glock32]

They really do have a static view of the world don't they? For all their self-believed propaganda about how they're the nuanced, dynamic, outside-the-box thinkers, they have a shockingly simplistic and limited view of human existence.

Why not just make everyone a millionaire? Now we're all rich! Does that mean we'll all have a mansion and a Ferrari now? Or does it mean a Big Mac and fries is now $5,000?

What they just can't accept is the axiom that value is based on scarcity. This isn't even from human economics, this is from biology. If your only skills are basic physical labor, well you have a needed and important skill but you're going to find yourself in the company of lots and lots of other people. You're not going to command as much compensation from people who purchase your skills as would someone who knows how to successfully remove a brain tumor.

Why are they so stupid? It almost goes beyond mere stupidity. It's really as much arrogance as anything...the belief that through sheer force of will and moral grandstanding they can somehow alter reality to their preference. And from there it's a short hop and skip to liquidating people who are "preventing it from happening" and "sabotaging progress".

[charlesoakwood]

They're not stupid they have a cognitive disorder. 
They need help.

[warpmine]

Kill most of them and watch their value increase.

[charlesoakwood]

Yep, pure gold iron pyrite.
                                                   

[Libertas]

Creative insanity, Allinsky, Cloward & Piven would applaud.  The rest of us should just go Galt and let them flounder and die in their own filth.

[AlanS]

The rest of us should just go Galt and let them flounder and die in their own filth.

Without fed intervention, wouldn't we be seeing that now?

[Libertas]

The rest of us should just go Galt and let them flounder and die in their own filth.

Without fed intervention, wouldn't we be seeing that now?

Natural vs artificial shakeout, yes, natural is better.  Since that is not an option we can only break the game by overwhelming it, but by their design "failure" means sweeping innocents away in the flood that flushes the human detritis...oh well, can't help that...people got to help themselves...they'll learn one way or another there is no (more) free lunch.