All of the other arguments are good, but I want to add one thought I have.
One aspect of UBI that worries me is that most plans want to eliminate all current welfare policies and replace them with UBI. That makes it really easy for some future government to neuter what small benefits people currently have.
If they want to cut all welfare programs now, they have to pass tons of legislation to eliminate food banks, EBT, Social security, SSI, Section 8, HUD public housing, fuel assistance, etc. They would be putting a ton of the federal and state employees that administer these programs out of work. Most of the public has accepted that these programs are the status quo and would be against eliminating them. There are reasons these things haven’t been taken completely away during previous austerity movements.
If it’s just UBI, it’s just one number that can be adjusted down or left to dwindle due to inflation.
It’s all bandaids for the real problem, but those bandaids are currently keeping some people alive and I don’t want to trade them away for some tech bro plan that can be easily fucked with when the public starts thinking UBI is the cause of inflation or higher taxes or whatever.
All of the other arguments are good, but I want to add one thought I have.
One aspect of UBI that worries me is that most plans want to eliminate all current welfare policies and replace them with UBI. That makes it really easy for some future government to neuter what small benefits people currently have.
If they want to cut all welfare programs now, they have to pass tons of legislation to eliminate food banks, EBT, Social security, SSI, Section 8, HUD public housing, fuel assistance, etc. They would be putting a ton of the federal and state employees that administer these programs out of work. Most of the public has accepted that these programs are the status quo and would be against eliminating them. There are reasons these things haven’t been taken completely away during previous austerity movements.
If it’s just UBI, it’s just one number that can be adjusted down or left to dwindle due to inflation.
It’s all bandaids for the real problem, but those bandaids are currently keeping some people alive and I don’t want to trade them away for some tech bro plan that can be easily fucked with when the public starts thinking UBI is the cause of inflation or higher taxes or whatever.