Basic Income:

[Talon]

Basically, we are running out of jobs. How do you run a country without enough work to go around? Some people (including me) are advocating for "basic income." It sounds kinda crazy to the average American, because our sense of self worth has been tied in to our professions for so long, but the reality is that there is no way for the average worker to compete with computers, robots, and 13 year old slaves in Asia.

[Talon]

An article against it.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/don-t-fall-for-universal-basic-income-it-s-a-utopian-fiction-that-wastes-public-money-on-the-rich-a6945881.html

[Talon]

Milton Friedman talking about his "negative income tax."

"A negative income tax is intended to create a single system that would not only pay for government, but would also fulfill the social goal of making sure that there was a minimum level of income for all. It is theorized that, with an NIT, the need for minimum wage, food stamps, welfare, social security programs and other government assistance programs could be eliminated, thus reducing the administrative effort and cost to a fraction of what it is under the current system, as well as eliminating the perverse incentives created by these overlapping aid programs, e.g. when a minimum wage worker who earns a little more nets out with less income because he is newly ineligible for aid. The worker is stuck in a welfare trap and has no incentive to seek higher wages.
A NIT does not disrupt low-wage markets, whereas a minimum wage makes certain very low end jobs impossible (as anyone whose labour is valued at less than the minimum wage must be unemployed). A NIT would therefore increase the availability of cheap labour, which would enable businesses to do domestically some of the work which they would otherwise have to outsource to other countries.
A NIT would reduce administrative overhead, since the large bureaucracies responsible for administering taxation and welfare systems, with the multitude of rules, thresholds and different applications required, could be eliminated. The resources saved by eliminating these bureaucracies could then be spent on more productive government activities, or returned to the people via tax cuts."

[Talon]

Nixon proposed it in 1969.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-theory/wp/2015/09/28/universal-basic-income-a-primer/

[Talon]

https://medium.com/@jannaq/the-robot...36a#.llylewd5z

"The job-deficit future is a threatening one because economic, social and political structures have long been tailored specifically to a world with human work."

[TheRabbit]

We are not running out of jobs. I see help wanted signs everywhere. Plus, I have interviewed many people. It's amazing how few people just want a real job, where they just go to work and get a damned paycheck. I had one guy tell me a couple of years ago, that he HAD to make $15 per hour, or else it wasn't worth getting a job. See, if he got a job, he would lose his unemployment. I am not joking.

I bet that I could go out for a week and get hired for 3 jobs minimum. May be a shitty job, but it's a job.

[Talon]

We are running out of good paying jobs with benefits, that allow people to have families, be healthy and enjoy life. Sure, we could all work two or three minimum wage jobs at some local China mart until we die stocking shelves at 70 years old, but is that the kind of country we want? Again, we have tied so much of a persons life and worth to their job, that it will probably take generations to get people to think differently.

The employment market today is that the 50 year old man that was laid off when his plant moved to China or Mexico is competing with the new college graduate, and the high school kid with purple hair for the same jobs. It's only going to get worse as long as we stick with the current model.

[rab]

I think any system, that creates fewer levels of government. Should be looked into.

[Talon]

Basic income does just that. Most of our government flunkies are employed just to shuffle money around. With a basic income you cut out all of those prima donnas, their highrise offices, and SUV's.

I think any system, that creates fewer levels of government. Should be looked into.

[Night]

Basic income does just that. Most of our government flunkies are employed just to shuffle money around. With a basic income you cut out all of those prima donnas, their highrise offices, and SUV's.

And then where do they go? They're not going to give up their million dollar pensions and gold card healthcare for life

[rab]

Even the unemployment deal is stupid. I can understanding people needing extra time to find work in their field, but they should be able to get a lower paid job right away,, then still get partial benefits. This partial benefits could be paid for a longer time. Since the reason for benefits going out so many months is to enable people to find a job that pays about the same. Some should onky be able to get it for maybe two months. Because, does a construction worker reallt need nine months to find a new job?

[Talon]

They would have to join the rest of the rabble. We need universal healthcare for all, too.

And then where do they go? They're not going to give up their million dollar pensions and gold card healthcare for life

[Talon]

With basic income you wouldn't need unemployment. If a person loses their job, they would still have their monthly stipend to fall back on for a few weeks or months. It cuts out a lot of the bureaucracy.

Even the unemployment deal is stupid. I can understanding people needing extra time to find work in their field, but they should be able to get a lower paid job right away,, then still get partial benefits. This partial benefits could be paid for a longer time. Since the reason for benefits going out so many months is to enable people to find a job that pays about the same. Some should onky be able to get it for maybe two months. Because, does a construction worker reallt need nine months to find a new job?

[Talon]

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/08/why-arent-reformicons-pushing-a-guaranteed-basic-income/375600/

"More recently, in a 2006 book, conservative intellectual Charles Murray proposed eliminating all welfare transfer programs, including Social Security and Medicare, and substituting an annual $10,000 cash grant to everyone 21 years and older."

[Talon]

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/03/31/3420987/college-degree-minimum-wage/

"There were 260,000 Americans with bachelor’s degrees earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour or less in 2013, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ newest annual snapshot of minimum wage workers. Another 200,000 associate’s degree holders also worked for that wage."