What do you think about crypto-UBI? (universal basic income)

[msk + 42]

Blockchain technology is already transforming the way charities manage identity and distribute funds, so crypto-UBIs might just be the most logical next step.

https://cryptoinsider.21mil.com/will-crypto-ubis-change-world/

[Epic + 390]

UBI is a great idea simply from an economic standpoint.  On the contrary, raising taxes on the wealthy in order to pay for it might not be such a good idea.  This is because the tax structure of any economic system must be competitive with alternative options or else the wealthy (who fund a majority of the taxes) will leave.  Then the poor (who financially do not have the option of leaving) are stuck with the bill that they cannot repay.  I believe Jan had mentioned elsewhere that this is currently a very serious problem certain States.  

Back to UBI.  Interestingly enough, the funding is already in place for UBI, and so no tax raises would be necessary.  If all government handout programs were ended and replaced with a simple UBI, then each American would be receiving $5,000 of free money each year.  For a family of 5, that amounts to a $25,000 boost to yearly income.  In any family with at least 1 income earner, that would effectively lift every one of those families out of poverty.  It does this without raising taxes. 

Why does UBI work so well?  It works so well simply because the government is an inefficient bureaucracy that ends up wasting a substantial amount of tax resources during the process of distribution.  UBI, especially one run on blockchain tech, would eliminate all of that waste by efficiently distributing those resources.  

Economically, UBI is a great idea.  Politically, it would be a career-ender for most politicians.  So I don't see UBI happening, at least not any time in the near future.  Even if the average voter does come to accept UBI, there is still the problem of getting them to give up their current handouts...an equally difficult task.  

Lastly, it should be noted that as robotics technology improves, manual labor will decrease, and with it, a great many jobs will disappear.  UBI might be a necessity as the world population increases while those jobs decrease.  On the other hand, don't underestimate the wonderful potential of the human mind.  We may invent new jobs that cannot be performed by robots. 

On the other hand, some other individuals have an alternative fix for this disparity between increasing population and decreasing jobs.  The Georgia Guidestones suggest we reduce the population of the world to half of a billion.  Give the current world population, I'll let you imagine how exactly they plan to go about accomplishing that strategy.  

[msk + 42]

Dan Lariner argues that we could ditch taxes altogether except a 5 percent tax on the extremely wealthy and add a 5% yearly inflation to cover UBI. 

I dont necessarily agree - but he does have a lot to say on the subject. 

As for the overpopulation argument, I think it's ridiculous. Of course we have enough resources - they're just poorly managed. X__X 

And robots: Check out this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pq-S557XQU

[Epic + 390]

On 9/14/2018 at 12:31 PM, msk said:

And robots: Check out this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pq-S557XQU

Yep, after watching that video one can only come to the conclusion that for most people on the planet, it will either be UBI or death.

 

On 9/14/2018 at 12:31 PM, msk said:

we have enough resources - they're just poorly managed

You are right.  In fact, there is only one limited resource on this planet: intelligence.