The answer to the coming 'Robot Revolution'? Universal Basic Income!

[Herb Spence]

2. This is why we deserve to be laughed at sometimes

These kinds of ideas are Utopian & simple-minded. There are simple realities of the human condition which we ignore at our peril. You can’t possibly guarantee that no one will go hungry or be out of a place to live, because some people are simply self-destructive & will not do well for themselves even if you hand them a guaranteed check every week. Still others will choose not to work, or to work less than they otherwise would, because they’re given a free sum of money each week. In fact many people would react like that. It’s a simple fact; whatever amount is guaranteed each week will be factored into decisions to work; if I’m guaranteed $300/week, then a job offering me $500/week will instead be looked at as offering only $200/week. People would choose to work less, productivity will drop, less to go around, we’re all poorer, government would eventually resort to rationing. What we need to fight for is genuine socialism. Socialize the means of production. Anything less is just messing up the free enterprise system more & making the working class poorer.