I’m in favour of UBI, but then I live on a continent that (as our national anthem boasts) is “girt by sea” which makes it harder for non-citizens to move here without government permission. There is also very draconian system for detaining visa-less non-citizens here, aka “illegal immigrants”.
I’m not sure how to sell UBI politically in a country with borders that are easier to cross. Unless it was administered by the UN regardless of location… “You don’t have to move to Finland to draw UBI! You can stay in Nigeria and the UN will distribute your portion, part of which is paid by Finnish taxes”.
Here in Australia, where pragmatic utilitarianism (rather than Lockean libertarianism plus Puritan fundamentalism) is the defaul ideology, I can sometimes get some traction by pointing out just how much bureaucracy is required to administer means tests. (“How often a month does you new boyfriend stay over? Six nights? Right, you lose the Single Mothers Benefit…”). People who get worked up about MY TAXES funding THEIR LAZY LIFESTYLE can be talked down with the perspective of “Schools today or prisons tomorrow, you have to pay for one – your call”. But my read on the US is that cracking down on the “work-shy” is a religious duty. Like executing prisoners even if that costs the taxpayers far more than jailing them for life…
For the foreseeable future, we’re going to have to maintain marginalism with respect to labor especially for smaller employers. The best way I can think of to manage that in the US is a UBI — Social Security for All, coupled with Medicaid for All. But nobody really knows what’s going to work, as the piece points out.
The inflation question is important, but solvable. The bigger problem is Rentiers, beginning with housing. This is separate from regional differences. Other reforms that get at economic rents will be necessary. Shoot, they’re already necessary.
“End all Welfare” can’t work — there are needs far beyond what a UBI can reasonably cover — think “total disability”, physical, intellectual, both.
4 Responses
Yes!!
I’m in favour of UBI, but then I live on a continent that (as our national anthem boasts) is “girt by sea” which makes it harder for non-citizens to move here without government permission. There is also very draconian system for detaining visa-less non-citizens here, aka “illegal immigrants”.
I’m not sure how to sell UBI politically in a country with borders that are easier to cross. Unless it was administered by the UN regardless of location… “You don’t have to move to Finland to draw UBI! You can stay in Nigeria and the UN will distribute your portion, part of which is paid by Finnish taxes”.
Here in Australia, where pragmatic utilitarianism (rather than Lockean libertarianism plus Puritan fundamentalism) is the defaul ideology, I can sometimes get some traction by pointing out just how much bureaucracy is required to administer means tests. (“How often a month does you new boyfriend stay over? Six nights? Right, you lose the Single Mothers Benefit…”). People who get worked up about MY TAXES funding THEIR LAZY LIFESTYLE can be talked down with the perspective of “Schools today or prisons tomorrow, you have to pay for one – your call”. But my read on the US is that cracking down on the “work-shy” is a religious duty. Like executing prisoners even if that costs the taxpayers far more than jailing them for life…
For the foreseeable future, we’re going to have to maintain marginalism with respect to labor especially for smaller employers. The best way I can think of to manage that in the US is a UBI — Social Security for All, coupled with Medicaid for All. But nobody really knows what’s going to work, as the piece points out.
The inflation question is important, but solvable. The bigger problem is Rentiers, beginning with housing. This is separate from regional differences. Other reforms that get at economic rents will be necessary. Shoot, they’re already necessary.
“End all Welfare” can’t work — there are needs far beyond what a UBI can reasonably cover — think “total disability”, physical, intellectual, both.
Very nice explainer.