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Think of it: The government prints more money or perhaps — god forbid — it taxes some corporate profits, then it showers the cash down on the people so they can continue to spend. As a result, more and more capital accumulates at the top. And with that capital comes more power to dictate the terms governing human existence.
UBI really just turns us from stakeholders or even citizens to mere consumers.
Meanwhile, UBI also obviates the need for people to consider true alternatives to living lives as passive consumers. Solutions like platform cooperatives, alternative currencies, favor banks, or employee-owned businesses, which actually threaten the status quo under which extractive monopolies have thrived, will seem unnecessary. Why bother signing up for the revolution if our bellies are full? Or just full enough?
Under the guise of compassion, UBI really just turns us from stakeholders or even citizens to mere consumers. Once the ability to create or exchange value is stripped from us, all we can do with every consumptive act is deliver more power to people who can finally, without any exaggeration, be called our corporate overlords.
No, income is nothing but a booby prize. If we're going to get a handout, we should demand not an allowance but assets. That's right: an ownership stake.
https://medium.com/s/powertrip/universal-basic-income-is-silicon-valleys-latest-scam-fd3e130b69a0
(Score: 2) by dry on Tuesday October 16 2018, @05:45AM (1 child)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mincome [wikipedia.org]. People on UBI keep working generally. If someone gave you a thousand a month, would you quit work, or perhaps just cut back a bit?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday October 16 2018, @02:09PM
Interesting question. I think that if you were to mail me a check every month for a thousand dollars, I wouldn't quite, or cut back. I would almost definitely use that extra thousand to purchase and/or do things that I have put off, for lack of "disposable" income. That is, there are things I'd really like to have, that I could probably afford, if I were willing to take out a loan, or cash in on something else. But, I'm not willing to do either, so I do without. A thousand a month extra money? Hell yeah, I'd have a new - or almost new - motorcycle in very short order. I could put up new fence, soon after the new motorcycle. (We're talking about a mile of fence, and a half dozen truck/tractor main gates, and another half dozen man gates here, which means a nice chunk of change.) I could add a couple of outbuildings, and tear down the old rotten ones.
Of course, being married, the wife would probably have something to say about how I would spend that money. But, definitely a new motorcycle! We wouldn't even discuss that - I'd just go get the bike!
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.