5 ms·
UBI can also be inflated away to nothing. It's a neoliberal scam.
by umadon 7y ago
UBI can also be inflated away to nothing. It's a neoliberal scam.
- gojomo 7y agoSo can all the other forms of welfare.
- umadon 7y agoNo, not all. For example not a positive right to healthcare. UBI is transparently an attempt to redistribute tax income to private companies such that no opportunity for profit stays with or is limited by government. UBI would mean no more Medicare stipulations, no more existing conditions protections. Just your ten grand a year or whatever and a bunch of private companies who have what you need, at whatever price they set.
- gojomo 7y agoGood point; after posting I wished I'd said "...cash welfare", because of course in-kind transfers of goods and services would be immune to any amount of inflation. Indexing the UBI amount to some basket-of-subsistence-consumption could likely address this concern. (The handling of existing-conditions is a regulatory issue orthogonal from UBI. I'd prefer a UBI replace all "income-supporting" programs – including things like food stamps and housing vouchers – and also obviate many rules premised on the idea that the threat-of-privation captures people in bad jobs/relationships. But "structure-of-market" or "acceptable offerings" or "required minimum standards" regulations are a separate matter.)