Universal Basic Income

Originally posted by Eladar
So no more socialized medicine?

Why not?
Medicine should be free at the point of delivery anyway.

Time to reign in the drug producing maffia: dow what we want or we nationalize yer arses.

Originally posted by shavixmir
Why not?
Medicine should be free at the point of delivery anyway.

Time to reign in the drug producing maffia: dow what we want or we nationalize yer arses.

Come on Shav, you think everything should be free. Food, shelter, a welfare check, drugs, abortions, call girls, and beer should all be free.

In reality, the one true universal right should be beer.

Originally posted by whodey
Come on Shav, you think everything should be free. Food, shelter, a welfare check, drugs, abortions, call girls, and beer should all be free.

In reality, the one true universal right should be beer.

Beer pushes up the costs of medicine and reduces productivity, so that is one thing that should be heavily taxed.

Food shelter and 'welfare check' can all be covered by the UBI. Abortions should be covered with any other medical procedure (free). Call girls are up to you. I have to point out though that you probably won't be able to afford them on the UBI, because girls too will get UBI and will not need to sell their bodies unless they really want to. In fact, call boys might become just as common as call girls.

Of course you could just try dating. Its free you know.

Originally posted by twhitehead
Beer pushes up the costs of medicine and reduces productivity, so that is one thing that should be heavily taxed.

Food shelter and 'welfare check' can all be covered by the UBI. Abortions should be covered with any other medical procedure (free). Call girls are up to you. I have to point out though that you probably won't be able to afford them on the ...[text shortened]... become just as common as call girls.

Of course you could just try dating. Its free you know.

Heavily taxed alcohol?

Oh, now you've really went off the deep end of a Trumpian dystopian nightmare.

Originally posted by shavixmir
Heavily taxed alcohol?

Oh, now you've really went off the deep end of a Trumpian dystopian nightmare.

Fight, fight, fight!!!

Where is my vagina hat and loud speaker to shout him down?

You and I will join forces and crush him! 😠

Originally posted by shavixmir
Why not?
Medicine should be free at the point of delivery anyway.

Time to reign in the drug producing maffia: dow what we want or we nationalize yer arses.

It is part of the social safety net. Someone said this would replace the social safety net.

Originally posted by Eladar
You mean the social safety net is being replaced?

The idea is to replace those parts of the social safety net that pertain to a person's disposable income, e.g. food stamps in the U.S. Since fraud is basically impossible with a basic income (everyone gets it anyway), it is much cheaper to manage, vastly reducing administrative costs.

Originally posted by KazetNagorra
The idea is to replace those parts of the social safety net that pertain to a person's disposable income, e.g. food stamps in the U.S. Since fraud is basically impossible with a basic income (everyone gets it anyway), it is much cheaper to manage, vastly reducing administrative costs.

Yes, the US federal government is all about cutting costs.

They will get right on that!

Originally posted by Eladar
It is part of the social safety net. Someone said this would replace the social safety net.

Yeah, just another part of it altogether.

In Europe you have a right to be helped if you're sick.

Originally posted by whodey
Yes, the US federal government is all about cutting costs.

They will get right on that!

The U.S. federal government has a very small budget compared to national governments in most other rich industrialized nations. The difference is even more pronounced if you consider only non-military spending.

Originally posted by KazetNagorra
The idea is to replace those parts of the social safety net that pertain to a person's disposable income, e.g. food stamps in the U.S. Since fraud is basically impossible with a basic income (everyone gets it anyway), it is much cheaper to manage, vastly reducing administrative costs.

I'd be all for that. Do away with special groups and simply give money to people equally. Sure, why not. Do away with the incentive to get pregnant to keep your welfare.

Originally posted by Eladar
I'd be all for that. Do away with special groups and simply give money to people equally. Sure, why not. Do away with the incentive to get pregnant to keep your welfare.

Yeah... I don't actually think that happens.

Originally posted by shavixmir
Yeah... I don't actually think that happens.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/470687/Get-pregnant-for-benefits-Outrage-as-shameless-mum-tells-daughter-have-baby-for-welfare

Saying that it never happens is as silly as saying it always happens.

Originally posted by Eladar
I'd be all for that. Do away with special groups and simply give money to people equally. Sure, why not. Do away with the incentive to get pregnant to keep your welfare.

It does do away with many poorly thought out incentives. In some cases there is an incentive not to work that the UBI would remove.

Originally posted by Eladar
I'd be all for that. Do away with special groups and simply give money to people equally. Sure, why not. Do away with the incentive to get pregnant to keep your welfare.

Although it is quite rare for people to want to be on benefits, in countries with generous welfare systems (such as Finland as cited in the OP, where the largest-scale trial is being held) people are hesitant to take on insecure, seasonal or part-time jobs when they are on benefits, because you lose benefits upon taking a job. A universal basic income removes such disincentives, and removes any need or purpose of a minimum wage to boot, making it potentially a great tool for making the labour market more flexible and reducing chronic unemployment, in addition to eliminating needless red tape by getting rid of many income assistance welfare programs.