UBI rebuttal article
One author on Medium, Rugare Maruzani, posted an article titled “Why Universal Basic Income Is Not a Good Idea” but for which he did not enable comments. You can read it in the link. Very odd, considering if you look a other articles he wrote he does have a comment link available.
I read through it and provide a point by point rebuttal as I find several of his assertions rather flawed! and without providing evidence
1. Complaining about a UBI of the same dollar value because living costs are different in one area than another is a ludicrous position given that under the current approach living costs are STILL different in one area than another- your reasoning is circular here! Those who can’t afford to live in a city already don’t.
2. Employers MIGHT try to lobby to eliminate the minimum wage but that will go nowhere. That aspect is firmly locked in. The goal is to raise people OUT of poverty, not swap UBI for an equivalent decrease in working income.
3. UBI will ALSO solve the myriad of economic issues related to off-shoring and robotics downsizing the workforce. Technology will continue to eliminate some positions. What the USA has NEVER done well (precisely because we have a lassaiz-faire ethos imbedded) is to support workers displaced by trade or jobs moving to other countries. It is patently absurd to think multitudes of manufacturing will come back to the USA if we only put tariffs on products. Additionally, lower cost products are a BENEFIT to 300 million people. If T-shirt manufacturing moves to India, millions of Americans benefit from lower cost T-shirts while a couple thousand lose jobs. The way to support those out of work would be via a UBI
4. A UBI which is robust could indeed eliminate a myriad of social welfare programs. The REAL benefit here would be especially impacting on Americans who live in Republican controlled states which typically are very stingy with the programs which the federal government delegates them to operate. One should not get differing treatment from a federal social program simply beause of zip code. That states do this is well documented
5. “low paying jobs become difficult to fill” ? Based on what? It’s an assertion without evidence. MOST people want to improve their lives. If receiving UBI and working as a dishwasher brings in additional money, it will go to education, improved living conditions, etc. The current process makes desparate people put up with terrible working conditions and tyrannical bosses. I know, I’ve been there.
