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I wouldn't call UBI a "game plan" so much as a thing people can point to so justify their actions to themselves. It helps you pretend you're not ruining people's lives, because you can point to UBI as the escape hatch that will let them continue to have an existence. It's not surprising that so many in the tech industry are proponents of UBI. Because it helps them sleep at night.

Never mind that UBI has never actually existed, it probably never will exist, and it's very, very likely that it won't even work.

People need to face the possibility that we will destroy people's way of life the way we're headed, and to not just wave their hands and pretend that UBI will solve everything.

(Edited to tone back the certainty in the language: I'm not actually sure whether AI will be a net positive or negative on most people's lives, but I just think it's dishonest to say "it's ok, UBI will save them.")

by danaris2 hours ago|

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OK, maybe take it down a few notches?

I'm only "in the tech industry" in the literal sense, not in the cultural sense. I work in academia, making programs for professors and students, and I think the stuff "the tech industry" is doing is as rotten as you appear to.

UBI has never existed because the level of production required to support it has only just started to exist. (It's possible that we're actually not quite there, but that's something we can only determine by trying it out—and if we're not, then I'm 100% confident we can get there with further refinement of existing processes.) If we have the political will to actually, genuinely do UBI—enough to support people's basic needs of food, clothing, shelter, and a little bit of buffer, without any kind of means testing or similar requirements—then it's very, very likely that it will work. All the pilot programs give very positive data.

I'm not pushing UBI because I think it's a fix to the problem of automation. I'm pushing UBI because I think it's the fulfillment of the promise of automation.

by hgs310 hours ago|

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> It's called Universal Basic Income.

I'd rather we democratize ownership [1]. Instead of taxing the owning class and being paid UBI peanuts, how about becoming the owning class and reaping the rewards directly?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worker_cooperative

by danaris7 hours ago|

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Honestly, I'm all for something like that. It is, however, a much harder sell for most people.

by alehlopeh10 hours ago|

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Well that sounds less like a plan and more like a pipe dream.

by fragmede10 hours ago|

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We can (and should) provide for those among us who aren't able to provide for themselves, without also firing everyone in the welfare department. UBI is shit. People need to do something in order to recieve money, even if the something is begging on the side of the freeway or going into the welfare office to claim benefits. Magic money from the sky is not the answer.

by direwolf208 hours ago|

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What if you have to dig holes and fill them back in to get the money?

And some more people can do the useless work of tracking who filled and dug how many holes.

by fragmede12 minutes ago|

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if you oversimplify things, you lose the point. I moved houses. I took all of my stuff from my old house, moved it into a new house. Later, I moved all of that stuff back out of that house when I moved out of that one. Was moving my stuff into that house pointless, then? I could have just skipped a step and put it all in storage and then just not had any furniture for the entire time and saved money. In fact, if you don't eat anything, you'll save tons of money!

Why is it useless to track who dug which hole?

by JKCalhoun10 hours ago|

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I agree with you about magic money. Frequently downvoted when I put it forward but by and large I think that the human psyche needs to have a daily sense of having "accomplished something".

Otherwise I suspect many of us will (reluctantly) drift off into lives that center around drinking alcohol, playing video games…

by SkyeCA7 hours ago|

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I have a decent job, get paid an acceptable amount, and at the end of the day I never get the feeling that I've "accomplished something".

I'm extremely jealous of anyone who feels a sense of reward from their job.

by 2 hours ago|

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deleted

by danaris7 hours ago|

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