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RE: Universal Basic Income: The Answer to Automation

in #futurism8 years ago

But hold on - money can and is being created for free (quantitative easing) why not distribute that "free" money to the people, rather than buy bonds with it (which essentially just gives the money to those invested in the stock market). check out www.positivemoney.org.ulk if you have time... they have some very good arguements on this subject.

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If being prosperous were as simple as printing pieces of paper we could all make ourselves rich in a few minutes. That is not how reality works, of course, so you gotta ask yourself why.
"PositiveMoney" promotes the idea that we can keep a centralized and state-enforced money system but just turn it into a nicer one that cares, that will somehow be better now... because we can trust politicians... :-P
Any system that is enforced and not subject to the free market (which is individuals able to make free will choices to opt in-or-out of whatever they wish) is corrupt from inception and further corruptible. That cannot work which is why crypto-currencies like Bitcoin and Steem exist in the first place.

Being prosperous isn't as simple as printing pieces of paper, obviously, but if you automate all the work which is required of people, then they will be prosperous without having to lift a finger. If all the gains from automation only go to those who had enough money to buy the machines which now do the work, you're going to have a huge chunk of the population who are desperately poor, and I can't get behind that at all. Society will need to find a fair way to distribute the "wealth", and UBI is an attempt at that.

I know I'm probably on the wrong website to promote state solutions to our troubles, but the free market solution is bound to end up with unelected people with just as much power as the state currently has... the rich will get richer and more powerful. I've read plenty on the subject, from philosophers and economists, and I just can't see it ending well.