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Would this basic income be enough to cover basic living expenses? If so, too many people would be content with that and the country would go broke the first year it was implemented.
I have yet to see reason a bunch of people would just get up and leave their jobs. Again people want money to go do things like go out to eat, shop, go to movies so they would have to still work to do those things. What people will probably do is work part time instead of full time so they have extra income but still have free time.
Let's say everyone in the US got a monthly $1500 check.
Would the average rent go up that much, simply because the landlords know their renters now have that much more money to spend?
$1500 per month is more than enough money to get a room and pay for basic living expenses in most parts of the country. Will this still be true after the guaranteed income becomes law?
what I meant was that we could either have a form of socialism OR capitalism. but not really both at the same time.
Again, social welfare programs have nothing to do with socialism and yes it is not only possible to have capitalism coexist with capitalism it exists today if you note the number of employee owned businesses that operate within the present market system. Socialism nor communism require state ownership of productive enterprises, that is a Leninist conception, if my memory serves me right. Theoretically socialism, employee ownership of a businesses could compete against each other in a free market frame work.
I suppose in the not too distant future we have an opportunity to find out. It seems inconceivable given the world's population, the exponential advances in technology that there will be productive employment for large portions of the world's population.
We all can't be clerks as WalMart.
So what will people do for gainful employment, when gainful employment simply isn't there?
Could turn into a Eloi and Morlock type situation, except the Morlocks won't live underground, they'll have the prime real estate. I don't see the new Eloi being harvested for food, they'll be more usefull as small game in human hunts and other nefarious activities at the country club.
Could turn into a Eloi and Morlock type situation, except the Morlocks won't live underground, they'll have the prime real estate. I don't see the new Eloi being harvested for food, they'll be more usefull as small game in human hunts and other nefarious activities at the country club.
Hopefully for mankind we take a more Rodenberresque approach rather than that of the Victorian visions of H.G. Wells.
A. Wealth is not generated.
B. If by who will generate the income neccessary for the endless raises in basic income, that would come from taxes on the additional profiteers throughout the product chain.
This is inching more and more towards Communism.
Why not just go the whole way, and what is the difference with your system?
People are not just going to, in large part, kick cans down the road until they find mischief. Currently, very few people are in jail for committing crimes because they were bored, even in this time of huge unemployment. People are in school, volunteering, taking unpaid internships, freelancing.
This is just a form of working for free though.
Or more like, working for your welfare check, except you can choose to do the nice jobs.
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There are currently societies around the world (and have been since the dawn of man) who are absolutely content on expelling just the effort to survive. Its amazing that within these societies, mass murder and chaos never seems to be what happens, even though the peoples had large amounts of leisure time.
countries such as where?
do you mean dysfunctional 3rd World nations that rely on foreign aid money, and where families have to send their grandmothers out in the streets to scavenge?
Would this basic income be enough to cover basic living expenses? If so, too many people would be content with that and the country would go broke the first year it was implemented.
That is a good point and I agree.
Yet the proponents of this idealistic scheme feel that paying for it is somehow irrelevant!
I have yet to see reason a bunch of people would just get up and leave their jobs. Again people want money to go do things like go out to eat, shop, go to movies so they would have to still work to do those things. What people will probably do is work part time instead of full time so they have extra income but still have free time.
I am in agreement here - I also believe that many people would choose to work part-time.
Only problem with this is that the workforce may well be too diminished.
It would be like putting the country onto 50% capacity.
and how many businesses could really survive this kind of situation?
Let's say everyone in the US got a monthly $1500 check.
Would the average rent go up that much, simply because the landlords know their renters now have that much more money to spend?
$1500 per month is more than enough money to get a room and pay for basic living expenses in most parts of the country. Will this still be true after the guaranteed income becomes law?
For sure the rents would go up , as would many other things.
The only way around this would be to have massive socialised housing projects and/or fixed rent prices.
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