Tulsi UBI Comments
In a comment from my last essay, I noted that some here seem skeptical of a universal basic income (UBI), that Tulsi is now supporting. Today, she re-emphasized this in a Twitter video:
Tulsi Message to Yang Supporters and UBI Fans
Some reasons I would support a UBI:
1) In Yang's proposal, the UBI would go to everyone--rich and poor alike--so nobody is screwed.
2) With automation taking over jobs in coming decades, UBI may become the only way that civilization can survive. Many jobs will be overtaken by robotics and automation--it is only a matter of time. Self-driving cars (there go all the taxi, Uber, semi-truck jobs, etc.) are just one example, and with machine learning right around the corner, you'd better believe large companies are looking at harnessing that to replace workers.
3) There was one comment about UBI as a free handout to lazy people who don't want to work. Where I live, there are a ton of people who work full time, or even two jobs, but can't afford houses, apartments, or even rooms to live in. It's called 'gentrification', and is common in larger urban areas across the country right now. It means lower-end, working-class jobs don't make enough to pay for the cost of living. There was a great video PriceRip posted in this thread that explains it all very accurately:
One of the glasses technicians at my eye doctor said they cannot find any assistants because nobody in the area wants to get paid so little. They may need to shut down in a handful of years when the current eyeglass technicians retire. He then went on to tell me how a year earlier, their biggest competitor closed down, and as he walked past their empty store, a sign on the front read "Closed Due to Lack of Staff".
There are thousands of people living in RVs or old ambulances at the side of the roads around here. It's the only way people can make ends meet and not be outside living in a tent under a bridge. Almost all of these people work non-glamorous jobs--janitors, shopkeepers, grocery store clerks, etc.--but they are necessary jobs.
A universal basic income could help to even things out there. I'm not saying it is the only way, but it is a possible way. And as more people's jobs are automated out of existence, it is one potential path forward.
Just asking you to open your mind and consider a future--and even a present--where circumstances have changed, and maybe other options are needed.
Thoughts are welcome--especially regarding other options! (Other than eating the rich . . . which is also valid, I suppose.)
Comments
Who doesn't support a $1,000 / year universal income?
That seems completely reasonable.
We might finally establish some fairness between those born into poverty and those born into massive inheritance like our current bald, fat old idiot President.
"The enemy is anybody who is going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on." Yossarian
UBI is nithing but a con
and I'm sick of saying it. Go to my comments page and look up all my criticisms. The precis is that it is inadequate. $1000/month is nothing but a giveaway to capitalists.
On to Biden since 1973
That is Tulsi's Aloha spirit
and a sign she will not rock the boat. I guess that's what politicians on campaigns do.
https://www.euronews.com/live
@mimi I'm not exactly following
I'm not exactly following your comment. Whose boat is she trying not to rock?
"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi
"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone
I don't want to comment here anymore
too far away from all things taking place over at your side of the pond. If I post just video clips, it's not alright, if I talk, it's not alright, so if I say nothing and don't post anything is the way to go for me.
I point you to your sig. Caitlin is a supporter of Tulsi. Is Tulsi the revolution?
I think Bernie is:
[video:https://youtu.be/6i_vGQllwI0]
Gotta go. Sorry for all the trouble I might have caused.
https://www.euronews.com/live
I'm glad Yang got the discussion started
about UBI. I think that eventually we will institute some form of UBI. We may have no choice.
I don't think it will be in the form proposed by Yang, though. It would have to work in conjunction with other systemic structural reforms.
Tulsi, Bernie, and Yang are/were the three anti-establishment candidates in the primary. They're the ones who are looking toward the future, rather than trying to hold on to a rotting status quo. All three of them seem to like and appreciate each other. I'm hoping that we get to see them working together in the future.
"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi
"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone
for the good of the American people, I hope they will
and can work together. I don't want to comment anymore.
https://www.euronews.com/live
The idea of $1000/mo sounds great to me. But there is a big ass
elephant in the room taking a dump on your $1000, then trampling it until it is torn to shreds. There are hack accountants in every major corporation whose job it is to weasel every damn penny from your pockets that they can. What they do 24/7 is look for every trick to squeeze a few extra cents per month from each of their millions of customers. Always ratcheting up their profits without the slightest interest in pricing their services fairly.
90 days before UBI goes into effect a feeding frenzy will occur among sellers of every product or service of every type, from car dealerships to vending machines, to scarf up every additional dime known to exist in the pockets of consumers. By the time the dust settles after 6 months, the inflation adjusted cost of living will exceed the $1000 increase. The only ones who will benefit are the huge corporations who suck up the vast majority of the new revenue.
I am all for a bailout for everyone across the board. But if it is going to be cash then we should just give it directly to Goldman Sachs, Jeff Bezos and the Walton family.
Yep, it won't work without some kind of price controls
on everything, and I mean everything. Get $1000 of government cheese? Your rent goes up $200/month, health insurance another $100, internet/cable/phone service another $100, and so on, because they can.
I'm not saying we shouldn't do UBI, I'm all in favor of it. But we first would need laws in place about price gouging. It's the same argument about raising the minimum wage to a living wage. Regulate, regulate, regulate.
UBI would also be great for artists who have a hard time making any money and people who otherwise can't hold a regular job due to physical and mental health reasons.
This shit is bananas.
while i hadn't watched pricerip's
video explnation, i did try to find yang's proposal at his 2020 campaign site. depressingly, whether inside or bingling for it externally, all i found was 'donate here', 'sign me up', nd 'shop here'.
i did manage to find this though, and if it's close to accurate, i'm not in. not that he or tulsi would get it thru congress in any sort of original form, but the devil is always in the details, as it was when switzerland (a direct democracy) finally passed a version the 3rd time.
there's a lot more, of course, but i'll cut to the chase:
now remember: each adult (over 18) would receive the freedom dividend. imagine just the cost of housing for a single parent family of four or more! zip: no more freedom! or in the hole...
Rent, it always comes down to rent
The price of housing being the banksters greatest single source of income. We need to freeze housing. No, we need to reduce the price of housing to pre 2000 levels. And end mortgages. Jefferson fought against it, so it's not like taking out a mortgage is a necessity. It only became so after the banksters got their hooks into Wilson.
Fuck that. Drive the price of homes into the gutter.
Yep, and this is why
I couldn't give less of a shit if/when the housing market implodes again. Housing is waaaay overpriced and has been for more than a decade. $900+/month for a studio apartment with outdated appliances? Fuck that. Why are "starter" homes even a thing?! I want a house to LIVE in; housing is a necessity, not an investment opportunity! Also house flippers should be among those in line for the guillotines.
This shit is bananas.