Universal Basic Income

[The Grand Nudger]

Would there be a need for a basic income if/when basic necessities were no longer for profit?  Water, food, housing, energy.  Which would be simpler or more politically expedient to institute?

[Mister Agenda]

It's possible that the internet and video games are partly responsible for the drop in US crime over the last 25 years. There's something to be said for people having something to occupy their time.

Did it replace or enhance masturbation?

I think yes. Plus, multi-player games can keep a whole gang busy for an afternoon as a replacement activity.

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http://nautil.us/issue/47/consciousness/...-a-disease

[Jackalope]

I'm undecided as to whether UBI is the solution to future economic woes or whether another solution would be more appropriate.

Anecdotally, the software development work I do concerns automation.  The major project I was assigned to as senior engineer last year resulted in the automation of what used to require dozens of largely unskilled workers - full time, benefited positions.  This year, my major assignment has the same goals - reduce payroll expenses through automation and job elimination.

Those jobs are now gone, forever.  They will not be coming back.  We are only one of uncounted corporations engaging in similar projects, or in shipping jobs overseas.  At one time, the company I work for had hundreds of employees, we now have fewer than 50.

I see a future where, absent intervention, there simply will not be enough jobs to go around.  Our current safety nets are inadequate to handle this future.

I personally cannot countenance allowing people pushed out of productive work by Adam Smith's invisible hand to be put out on the streets.  In my view, something will need to be done.

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ETA -

P.S. I am not happy with my current assignments. I unfortunately have deep enough roots at this position that leaving is currently out of the question. I am working on my exit strategy, however. Regardless, if I didn't do this work, someone else would, and I've come to terms with that.

[Pat Mustard]

Like Teresa said, your spending becomes my income and my spending becomes your income. When a huge portion of us no longer have the option of being able to spend, most of us will be left without a source of income. I don't know if universal basic income is the answer. But I do know that absolutely fucking no one in the chain of command at Olive Garden or any other company is going to stop and think hmmm.... if we eliminate 90% of our staff through the use of technology and machines, the economy will suffer and no one will be able to afford to buy our products anymore so I guess we'd better not do that and just keep the employees employed instead. No one is going to do that. Ever.

No, what the boyos at the top will be thinking is "we cut staff by 90%, that'll push costs down at least 30%, pushing profits through the roof Q1 through Q3, meaning the share prices will skyrocket by the time my options to buy at 5% of today's prices can be optioned. I'll make it big, and when I go in five years once my second term is up, my pension will also be sky high (as it's tied to both pay and bonii). Who cares if the company folds ten years down the line?"

[Mister Agenda]

I'm in lower management and I can see how easily much of my job could be automated so I could effectively supervise five times as many people as I do now, which means the company would only need one fifth of the front-line managers. Software can monitor time in and out, time away from workstation, production rates, remind staff when they're below expected standards, record absences, and probably things I haven't thought of.

Not to mention the whole department would be obsolete if the legislature required online submittal of Medicaid claims or if we got the latest OCR technology.