Showing posts with label freedom dividend. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freedom dividend. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Universal Basic Income (aka Freedom Dividend) Is Not Free Money



Somebody built the road in front of your house. You did not. Is that a "free" road? Does that road make you lazy? Is that road bad karma?

The road is infrastructure. For most people that is easy to grasp because it is physical, it is there. You see it.

Education and health are also infrastructures. But they are less concrete. You can't build a knowledge economy unless you make massive investments in education and health.

UBI, Universal Basic Income, is similarly infrastructure. It is just like the road. Before the UBI, poverty starts at zero. When you are poor, you are desperate. With UBI, you are still poor. But now poverty starts at 12,000 dollars as per the Andrew Yang proposal in circulation right now. You are no longer desperate. For a couple, that is 24K a year. That is not luxury income, but at least you can hope to get by.

But that's a lot of money in aggregate. It comes to trillions of dollars.

That is the thing.

(1) The income and wealth gap between the richest and the poorest is too wide, in this country as well as globally. That wide gap is not healthy for democracy. It is not healthy for the market economy. In fact, left to its own devices, that gap will keep getting wider and wider until there is a collapse of civilization. This is existential. And so a wealth tax makes sense. Elizabeth Warren is taking the lead on this one. She proposes that you pay two cents for every dollar you have above 50 million.

(2) Andrew Yang talks about a VAT, Value Added Tax, hardly an original idea. Most countries already have it. Instead of taxing income or wealth, you tax every business transaction, not just between companies and consumers, but also between companies. B2B as well as B2C.

(3) All the money that the government is already giving out to people comes to something like almost two trillion. But now, instead of making people fill out forms and harass them and humiliate them, you just give it to them. Cuts out a lot of red tape. Slims down the bureaucracy. Republicans should love this.

(4) My personal favorite that I don't see anyone on the campaign trail talk about is that all data generated by one person is that person's own personal oil well. Data is the oil. Companies may collect it, but they may not own it. Individuals own their data. This data is lucrative enough that it can fund the UBI for all humanity. But I am not at all opposed to the first three.

Humanity is about to enter an Age Of Abundance, mostly technology-driven.

Just like the industrial revolution brought to an end numerous jobs in agriculture, the fourth industrial revolution is about to wipe out sector after sector of jobs. Handled well, we all can be better off. We could see interesting developments like shorter work weeks, longer vacations, people spending more time with family and friends.

I see numerous new jobs being created. People will have their UBI, that might start at 1K a month, but will gradually go up. On top of that, they will have jobs that pay them another 50K or 100K or 200K. These will be jobs that we have not even begun to imagine yet.

Just like a taxi driver does not have to build a car, and so can just focus on driving, think of robots and Artificial Intelligence as the new car. You can always do a value add on top of that.

People having more time for worship is not a bad idea. People having more time to spend with their parents, with their children is not a bad idea. There are tremendous unmet needs in education and health. New service sector jobs will get created. Art will flourish like never before. There will be a music and movies boom. People will travel more and there will be a greater cross-cultural understanding.

UBI is just basic infrastructure for the fourth industrial revolution.

Yang Warren 2020

Nobody is saying American Basic Income (ABI) though. UBI means universal. It can only work if it covers all humanity. It can be rolled out in stages.







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Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Andrew Yang: Suave Politician?

Andrew Yang: Chicken?





At this stage in the campaign, it makes sense to do what Andrew Yang is doing. At this stage, it is about getting the idea across. Now is not the time to implement. The idea of a Universal Basic Income is utterly new to the US political system. And so, at this stage, the idea has to be peddled as simply as possible. No new taxes. Not too much money per month. Two-thirds of it paid for by existing programs reorganized and made paperless.

The current package can go all the way to November 2020. When the work begins, and details are fleshed out, or, say, if Elizabeth Warren ends up being Yang's running mate (he has said he would like someone with legislative experience), the UBI idea might wed the wealth tax idea during the party convention summer of 2020.

When it is time to implement in January 2021, the work can begin in earnest. It might take a year or two to put it into action. I am for the VAT that Yang is proposing. I am also for the wealth tax that Warren is proposing. A YW ticket?

Sometime before 2035 it is possible that the US economy might see a growth rate of 50% some year. The Freedom Dividend will need to correspondingly go up. It can't stay stuck at 1K a month. It needs to be indexed to something. There needs to be an anchor, so it automatically goes up when conditions change. In short, when the economy gets bigger.



Climate Talk And The Dems
2020: Current Lineup
Andrew Yang And Media Bias
Bernie Picked The Wrong Fight With Andrew Yang




 UBI Is The Minimum Wage Of The Knowledge Economy

Data is the new oil. Proof? Look at the companies with the largest market caps. Used to be Big Oil. Now it is all Big Tech.

UBI: Universal Basic Income.

The minimum wage idea was pretty offensive when it was first talked about? You mean YOU are going to tell me how much I pay my workers!? There is similar antagonism around the UBI concept. It is a sound concept. It just needs to be sold.



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Monday, September 09, 2019

Andrew Yang: Chicken?

Andrew Yang is just too apologetic about it.

Even if there were no robotics, no automation, no lost jobs, the freedom dividend would still make sense. The wealth inequality in this country and the world is plenty of reason to do the Universal Basic Income. That gap is unhealthy for democracy. It is unhealthy for capitalism. It is unhealthy for the market.

Elizabeth Warren is for a wealth tax. In simple terms, up to a wealth of 50 million, you don't pay. That is a high bar. But above that, you pay two cents on the dollar. So if you are Jeff Bezos, and your wealth is 100 billion, you pay two billion. Easy math. If you have to sell some of your shares in Amazon to do that, you sell.

But Warren is not (not yet) for the UBI. Warren: chicken?

Bernie Sanders: Big Chicken? The guy has this Soviet concept of work. Jobbing, is that you want?

Kamala Harris is finally like, 1K is too much. How about $500?

Kamala Harris: chicken.

The world does not stop at the Mexican border. Stop imitating Donald Trump. UBI will only work if it covers all humanity.

If you are going to lose a 50K trucking job, what are you going to do with 1K a month?

Andrew Yang: Chicken.

30-30-30-10: A More Thoughtful And Egalitarian Formula For Equity Distribution In Tech Startups For The Age Of Abundance
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QG48X51
The Blockchain: Fundamental Like The Internet https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QNMBXDD
The Blockchain Rumble https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V6QRM4D
The Character Called The Tech Entrepreneur https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R1Q3PTZ
Inequality And Climate Change Are Existential: A Blueprint For Survival https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RKYMC65/
Towards A World Government https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QYPL4Q6
AOC 2028 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V2KF2RF    





The Freedom Dividend, Republicans can love. Because this means, no bigger government. The money goes straight to the consumer to spend. And this is money that will be spent. It will be like a nonstop stimulus to the economy.

If you decide to take UBI to all humanity, you immediately come across basic problems. Not everyone has an official ID, not everyone has a bank account, not everyone has something like a social security number, not everyone has access to credit. These problems will have to be solved fast. And it can be. Well, looks like, when you solve these problems, nobody wants to come to America. Happy, Donald? Shitty president.

This also solves the tax haven problem. Now you can't hide your money anywhere. All wealth will pay wealth tax. No matter if you keep your money in London or the Bahamas, you are paying. Parking money will no longer be an option for anyone. That will create pressure on all wealth. The rich will invest. If you are paying a 2% wealth tax, chances are you want to make at least a 5% return. Because five minus two is three. If your wealth is not generating income, it will gradually go down towards zero, as it should. Maybe not tomorrow. But in 50 years?

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