Hello, I’m not that informed about UBI, but here is my arguement:

Everyone gets some sort of income, but wouldn’t companies just subside the income by raising their prices? Also, do you believe capatilism can co-exist with UBI?

  • humanspiral
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    6 days ago

    Universal housing can look like the government acquiring existing apartments from disinterested landlords that are out of compliance and then granting them on a $1 lease in perpetuity to local neighborhood coops so long as they maintain it well.

    Not a complete fan, except that fines so large as the remedy is confiscation can be appropriate. No need to give away the confiscated property, though UBI would allow for tenant managed coops offering a fair bid. I’d rather see soviet style housing meant to provide a return for the builder, but affordable. UBI means there are no projects with “exclusive access” being for the troubled.

    Universal food can look like mandates for grocery stores to provide non-profit collectives unfettered access to discarded items that are still perfectly edible instead of locking up dumpsters full of food that can feed people.

    UBI is better. Nothing stopping grocery stores from taking advantage of non-profit collectives, compared to usual for profit alternatives. It’s in their interest to provide food quality/value.

    Free public transit is another great example. Do you want to have to include bus fare in the UBI? Or would it just make sense to make the buses and trains fare-free.

    Free public transit offers denser transit schedules, traffic reduction, better value for work and “touristy” outings. UBI solving homelessness helps avoid turning a “cheap shelter” into a “free shelter” for “undesirables” that may make transit uncomfortable to others.

    Why give people a voucher instead of just reimbursing all accredited schools directly and let folks enroll anywhere without having to manage a budget?

    Before university grades, you don’t need accredited schools as much as accredited testing. Internet/multimedia (30 years old revolution) has expanded education alternatives. Cash instead of vouchers. Spend as much as you want on education.

    http://www.naturalfinance.net/2015/05/slashing-public-education-can-provide.html

    Just make them tuition free.

    For University grades, it is rationed, and there is a minimum aptitude level required to gain from the experience. Would Harvard be allowed to exist alongside a public tuition free abundant system? I support subsidizing post secondary education similar to Canada (maybe outdated) where a summer job could pay for tuition and books. UBI, though, is plenty to afford university dorm + tuition lifestyle, but perhaps, if you can get into Harvard, you might prefer additional student loans if you consider the education worth the tuition price. The magic of UBI, is that you get to consider the overall value of education instead of “student program” scams on the young and foolish.

    • Andy@slrpnk.net
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      5 days ago

      To avoid an endless debate, I propose we agree that UBI is a good thing that we should test in more circumstances, and programs to provide more things free of cost (which do allow UBIs to achieve more spending power per dollar) are worth testing.

      If such programs perform poorly in a trial, then it’s good that we tested them. And if some perform better than you expect, it’s also good that we tested them.

      • humanspiral
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        5 days ago

        We need to test UBI the same way we need to test the abolition of slavery. It’s a delay to implementation, and some people wouldn’t like it.

        • Andy@slrpnk.net
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          5 days ago

          I was talking about trials of universal services.

          I gotta tell you: if you want to be the spokesperson for a movement, you need to learn how to build goodwill. You’re coming off as combative and needlessly hostile when I’m trying to find common ground.