Universal Basic Income

And for every "lazy junkie" who would take that money and fund their addiction, another person would be free'd up to go do more work with and help people like that.
 
I just want to discuss the framework of the conversation so far, in order to properly discuss UBI the discussion really has to be argued in good faith without wider political narratives taking focus, in that, whatever side of the political spectrum you reside on and whatever individual philosophical ideologies you hold, wont detract from the importance of the concept in relation to our current economic system and any realistic future projections of what our system may evolve into.

Firstly, the key and structurally most important argument for some form of UBI is the increasing prevelance of automation in the manufacturing industries as has been mentioned and its spread across most other industries and service sectors of the economy. This is happening now with our current technology levels, there are already job losses taking place and will continue to take place. you would be hard pressed to find a majority consensus that would state our rate of technological gain as a society is about to stall or regress.
The fact is we are in unparalleled territory with regards to automation technologies, and while it might still seem like science fiction, tangible progress on robotics and ai is not a lifetime away (not a general artificial intelligence) but things like self driving cars, replacements for manual labour etc which not in 10 years time, but 20/30/40 years Down the line our job market is going to look remarkably bleak from our current perspective. There will be increasingly less and less low skilled work and as a result drastically increased unemployment and a further increase in wealth inequality and poverty in our current societal structure.

Now the other side of the coin is positivity, we shouldn’t be holding low skilled jobs on a pedestal of the hard honest days work. Nobody should be working down coal mines or subjecting themselves to a lifetime of backbreaking labour, or working minimum wage at McDonald’s or stacking shelves in poor working conditions when the ability and infrastructure is there for people to pursue work and satisfaction in the things they actually enjoy. whilst there is absolutely nothing wrong with the pursuit of these jobs and many people will gain a degree Of fulfilment from these careers and whilst it’s unrealistic to expect all these 45-50 year old low skilled workers to retrain as coders or programmers or whatever jobs are needed in the new economy, the fact remains that when machines are taking these jobs it’s an opportunity for people to start living lives they want to live, instead of working as a means to an end.

So the question is, when labour is removed from the capital equation, from an economic standpoint what do we do. Because it’s obvious that what’s the good of having drastically cheaper goods and services when the consumer has no money to buy anything when they have no income as they are out of work. So already your looking at taxation sweeping up the profit surplus gains and being redistributed anyway through a higher form of business tax.

Or the state then has to create jobs on a national scale to force people into productive employment in order for the economy to function and people not to be totally aimless. Or the simpler solution is a form of UBI, we can argue the semantics, we can argue when it has to happen, we can argue how to rectify any societal negatives that may arise whatever they may be, but we need to have this conversation.

This is before even considering any other potential positives such as increased population happiness, reduced anxiety from less hours worked, more people being able to switch to creative fields, arts culture, self employment, retraining and education.
Good post.
 
I’m not sure what you really expected. A small experiment of 2,000 wasn’t going to radically open up the job market or anything. In fact you could equally look at it from the POV that as they did no worse than the control sample (with just as many finding employment) it proved that the concept posed little threat of upheaval, nor significantly discouraged motivation in the way it’s detractors said it would. And even that it’s tangible increase in well being could easily be seen as a net positive...

Now, I’m on the fence with UBI, but that proves next to nothing as a detraction. If anything it’s an (admittedly small) encouragement.

It's not exactly a glowing endorsement though is it, and it's the closest meaningful trial of a universal income that's ever taken place. No country is ever going to trial something like this on a massive scale from the word go. Finland is arguably the most socially liberal country in the world, it's quite telling that the results were so poor they brought the trial to a close earlier than planned. They deemed it a failure and there's no getting around it.

Something like UBI will have a place in the future but unemployment through automation isn't really going to take hold whilst any of us are still alive.


To your bolded point - we don't know that. These people were all jobless so increased unemployment was impossible. Whether they made more or less effort to find jobs has not been released yet.
 
It's not exactly a glowing endorsement though is it, and it's the a) closest meaningful trial of a universal income that's ever taken place. No country is ever going to trial something like this on a massive scale from the word go. Finland is arguably the most socially liberal country in the world, it's quite telling that the results were so poor they brought the trial to a close earlier than planned. They deemed it a failure and there's no getting around it.

Something like UBI will have a place in the future but unemployment through b) automation isn't really going to take hold whilst any of us are still alive.


To your bolded point - we don't know that. These people were all jobless so increased unemployment was impossible. Whether they made more or less effort to find jobs has not been released yet.

A) It wasn't a meaningful trial in any way as it was just welfare which is totally different in nature to universal income.

B) How soon are you planning to die? Because automation is already making inroads and it will rapidly accelerate.
 
C) UBI isn't supposed to get people into work, like JSA or whatever. It's to help as the job market decreases and changes.

@11101 you seem to think it's an unemployment benefit...
 
A) It wasn't a meaningful trial in any way as it was just welfare which is totally different in nature to universal income.

B) How soon are you planning to die? Because automation is already making inroads and it will rapidly accelerate.

Employment levels are rising. As some jobs are replaced, new ones are created. It will be a long, long time before we reach the tipping point where employment numbers decline due to automation.

C) UBI isn't supposed to get people into work, like JSA or whatever. It's to help as the job market decreases and changes.

@11101 you seem to think it's an unemployment benefit...

So do governments. We are decades if not centuries away from it ever being implemented as simply a support mechanism. Until that point, governments will expect a return in the form of increased economic benefit. If it can't do that it's dead in the water.
 
Employment levels are rising. As some jobs are replaced, new ones are created. It will be a long, long time before we reach the tipping point where employment numbers decline due to automation.



So do governments. We are decades if not centuries away from it ever being implemented as simply a support mechanism. Until that point, governments will expect a return in the form of increased economic benefit. If it can't do that it's dead in the water.
Something like this doesn't get done over night. So when do you suggest we start working on it exactly, if ever?

I think your problem may be that you're looking at it in the short term, through the lens of what you see now.... Not what we expect to see and over the long term.

I mean centuries? Do you pay attention to tech advancements in general?

Regardless, of course there will be economic advantages just read the thread for examples. It's more about working out how best to implement and fine tune it imo... anyway I feel I'm repeating myself.

So what do you suggest as an alternative?
Ubi has some attractive points but I think bringing back workhouses and potentially even soylent green are solutions more likley to actually be implemented and win votes
Good shout, maybe sprinkle a bit of the Running Man in too. You're probably right though judging by a lot of people's involuntary initial reaction when first hearing about UBI.
 
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What happens when people who receive this amount are still unable to manage? Addicts of various kinds, drugs, gambling, alcoholics etc, the homeless, mentally ill, etc. all have problems that money alone cannot solve, are they left destitute or does the state only provide a base-line safety net? Would all state benefits disappear, if not how is all this funded?
Sounds great in principal, but life and people in general are just not like that?
 
Employment levels are rising. As some jobs are replaced, new ones are created. It will be a long, long time before we reach the tipping point where employment numbers decline due to automation.

That just isn't true. Full time permanent jobs are already in serious decline and we are only just beginning to see jobs being replaced by technology. The next decade will see a huge change.
 
That just isn't true. Full time permanent jobs are already in serious decline and we are only just beginning to see jobs being replaced by technology. The next decade will see a huge change.
Yeah I'd like to see stats backing up that there has been a serious decline in full time permanent jobs because it does not correspond to my own experience... Not saying it isn't true but can you back up your statement with facts?
 
That just isn't true. Full time permanent jobs are already in serious decline and we are only just beginning to see jobs being replaced by technology. The next decade will see a huge change.
It depends on country really. The countries that manufacture "technologies" will be just fine because millions of jobs will be created while doing so, probably even more jobs than there are now. The issue will be in countries that just buy it instead.
 
For what it's fecking worth (expletive added because RedCafe is getting on my tits making me have to spell everything out correctly, it's not text speak it's a fecking acronym FFS - ok at least I've still got that), they showed a few fully automated Supermarkets and Warehouses on BBC click a few weeks ago (one was Amazon). I was surprised and I've been expecting it :lol:

It's not that far away...
 
It depends on country really. The countries that manufacture "technologies" will be just fine because millions of jobs will be created while doing so, probably even more jobs than there are now. The issue will be in countries that just buy it instead.

Not really. There will just be a slight lag in some countries. Manufacturing is, in the medium term,, highly vulnerable to automation.
 
Not really. There will just be a slight lag in some countries. Manufacturing is, in the medium term,, highly vulnerable to automation.
And Service too (but I don't think many see this), there's the example above and they are already replacing greeters with greeter bots.
Keep an eye out for these job stealing cnuts:
softbank-robotics-pepper.jpeg

Also the Dolly Whorehouse :lol:

Itshappening.gif
 
And Service too (but I don't think many see this), there's the example above and they are already replacing greeters with greeter bots. Also the Dolly Whorehouse :lol:

Itshappening.gif

Customer service is expensive. So you send it offshore which is rubbish quality so bots seem cheap.and efficient.
 
That just isn't true. Full time permanent jobs are already in serious decline and we are only just beginning to see jobs being replaced by technology. The next decade will see a huge change.

I had to research to find out more on this and found this...

https://www.npr.org/2018/10/05/6544...rops-to-3-7-percent-lowest-in-nearly-50-years
https://www.statista.com/statistics/279898/unemployment-rate-in-the-united-kingdom-uk/

There is not much of a increase in unemployment over past 50 years despite technological advancement. If we assume technology will develop at same pace, we may not see any drastic changes in job market in next 50 years or so.

I would have assume that automation would shit labor from unskilled to skilled with only a low % of pure loss of jobs. For example, manufacturing jobs will move into software/IT related. Mining jobs will move to renewable energy jobs etc. Imo a big % of unemployment will not be due to lack of jobs but lack of skill matching as many traditional skill sets may not have jobs and new skill sets will require reskilling of existing labour.

Another argument may be that, it is not lack of jobs but rising population that is causing unemployment rates to increase.

Not arguing for or against, but just exploring theories either way.

Perhaps this is discussion in a new thread.
 
You say shift from unskilled to skilled but it's not as easy as that is it? Education, training, and cost all factor in that equation.

Force people into work
:lol: sounds like fun.

Anyway we know what business is like, they'll crunch the numbers and it'll just be cheaper and more efficient to automate instead of retrain and rely on a suitably educated workforce in sufficient numbers. Pessimistic I know, but we're seeing it already...
 
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Increase mininum wage by a few pound an hour. Say 12. Let employers get help with this inc in costs, while simultaneously cutting unemployment benefits.

Force people into work
 
Increase mininum wage by a few pound an hour. Say 12. Let employers get help with this inc in costs, while simultaneously cutting unemployment benefits.

Force people into work

Congratulations, you're now the architect of a system forcing the disabled and broadly incapable off of welfare with no jobs to move into.

If it isn't obvious, that's what "force people into work" as an approach will invariably do.
 
Congratulations, you're now the architect of a system forcing the disabled and broadly incapable off of welfare with no jobs to move into.

If it isn't obvious, that's what "force people into work" as an approach will invariably do.
I didnt say cut disability. My soon to be father in law is in receipt of that and in no way would i force him or anyone else into work. In fact id almost go a far as saying disability is too low. He was forced out of work because of it about 5 years ago.

Im on about tageting those that drop out of school at 16 and have never worked a day in theirs lives and are seemingly as well of as full time working men and women.

Its a large problem in the town i live in
 
Increase mininum wage by a few pound an hour. Say 12. Let employers get help with this inc in costs, while simultaneously cutting unemployment benefits.

Force people into work
Sounds like some super-sized ramping up of Labour's tax credit policy, as the 'help' for employers would effectively be a subsidy going to the workers. Very progressive of you, but as there are many times more people on minimum wage than there are on benefits it would be very expensive, but every credit if that's what you want.
 
I didnt say cut disability. My soon to be father in law is in receipt of that and in no way would i force him or anyone else into work. In fact id almost go a far as saying disability is too low. He was forced out of work because of it about 5 years ago.

Im on about tageting those that drop out of school at 16 and have never worked a day in theirs lives and are seemingly as well of as full time working men and women.

Its a large problem in the town i live in
It's strange how it tends be in towns with fewer employment opportunities. Almost as if there's some sort of connection.
 
I didnt say cut disability. My soon to be father in law is in receipt of that and in no way would i force him or anyone else into work. In fact id almost go a far as saying disability is too low. He was forced out of work because of it about 5 years ago.

Im on about tageting those that drop out of school at 16 and have never worked a day in theirs lives and are seemingly as well of as full time working men and women.

Its a large problem in the town i live in

What you're missing is that the only way to drive numbers down is to make the system even harsher than it already is for claimants, and that will mean many on benefits like ESA being taken off by an assessor who's feeling pressured to meet their targets. This is essentially what the Tories caused over the last decade, and you'd only worsen it. There's no magic option for only targeting the scroungers - who, by the way, are a way smaller group than you think they are, so I'd argue that putting absolutely any attention towards this isn't worth the political opportunity cost.
 
Obviously you need a middle ground
It's strange how it tends be in towns with fewer employment opportunities. Almost as if there's some sort of connection.
Theres plenty of jobs available in the town. Also plenty that never apply. I know alot from being a similar age in school or know someone who knows someone.

Those types shouldn't be getting the same benefit as someone who worked 20 years and got laid off. Maybe it could be based on your national insurance record or something
 
What you're missing is that the only way to drive numbers down is to make the system even harsher than it already is for claimants, and that will mean many on benefits like ESA being taken off by an assessor who's feeling pressured to meet their targets. This is essentially what the Tories caused over the last decade, and you'd only worsen it. There's no magic option for only targeting the scroungers - who, by the way, are a way smaller group than you think they are, so I'd argue that putting absolutely any attention towards this isn't worth the political opportunity cost.
Oh of course they are small i understand that. And cutting disability because you have a few hundred fake claims isnt the right way to go either.

On the unemployment benefits, my post above said maybe it could be based on ni record or something.
 
Sounds like some super-sized ramping up of Labour's tax credit policy, as the 'help' for employers would effectively be a subsidy going to the workers. Very progressive of you, but as there are many times more people on minimum wage than there are on benefits it would be very expensive, but every credit if that's what you want.
Its just a thought. I dont know figures of unemployed vs min wage so it could very well cost more. But if people earn more wont it all circle back round?
 
That just isn't true. Full time permanent jobs are already in serious decline and we are only just beginning to see jobs being replaced by technology. The next decade will see a huge change.

UK employment is at record levels. Literally the highest it's ever been, like for like.
 
I currently work as a carer for 2 boys with severe autism. I love my job, it helps my mental state and for the first time in many jobs I wake up without dread, actually wanting to go to work. The money is awful though, minimum wage and only 30 hours. I have a second job doing building work which keeps me afloat. Something like UBI would allow me to keep doing the job I love with financial stability. I have no idea how viable it is or the financial implications of it, but I don’t want to leave my job and it’d be great not having to choose between a job I love and poverty or work I hate with financial stability.
 
Its just a thought. I dont know figures of unemployed vs min wage so it could very well cost more. But if people earn more wont it all circle back round?
That's what Corbyn says too. Increase public spending to grow the economy. If you believe it you should vote for him, especially if you're not worried about how much tax you pay.
 
I currently work as a carer for 2 boys with severe autism. I love my job, it helps my mental state and for the first time in many jobs I wake up without dread, actually wanting to go to work. The money is awful though, minimum wage and only 30 hours. I have a second job doing building work which keeps me afloat. Something like UBI would allow me to keep doing the job I love with financial stability. I have no idea how viable it is or the financial implications of it, but I don’t want to leave my job and it’d be great not having to choose between a job I love and poverty or work I hate with financial stability.
Someone like you shouldnt have to be working a second job to make life comfortable. Thats were my inc min wage and subsidize the employer idea comes from.
 
We all know the gig economy is growing rapidly, but a lot of employers have perhaps underestimated just how quickly the demand of candidates for traditional, permanent roles is dropping

Seems to suggest it's candidate driven not by employers or automation... Which I would concur with

Long term it says there may need to be change... But as far as I know currently we have record employment in UK with no real discernable decrease in full time employment (some of that has shifted more towards self employment)
 
That's what Corbyn says too. Increase public spending to grow the economy. If you believe it you should vote for him, especially if you're not worried about how much tax you pay.
Im not sure if this is a snide "your wrong comment". I agree with very little than Corbyn believes in.

I want to reward those like @Cascarino who work a full time job and still aren't comfortable. Is that idea wrong?
 
Im not sure if this is a snide "your wrong comment". I agree with very little than Corbyn believes in.

I want to reward those like @Cascarino who work a full time job and still aren't comfortable. Is that idea wrong?
Not at all, the great majority of people would want that. Wanting it and paying for it are two different things however. People can't complain about how much tax they pay and want to increase public spending at the same time.

For the record I'm not wealthy but I am willing to pay more tax even so.
 
Not at all, the great majority of people would want that. Wanting it and paying for it are two different things however. People can't complain about how much tax they pay and want to increase public spending at the same time.

For the record I'm not wealthy but I am willing to pay more tax even so.
Neither am i. I have just bought a house with my partner and our combined income is the only reason that was possible so i can't imagine how tough it is for some.

Something needs done. Im not the one the come up with the idea or i wouldn't be posting here. But i can't wrap my head around how minimum wage is less than what it takes to actually live comfortably
 
Neither am i. I have just bought a house with my partner and our combined income is the only reason that was possible so i can't imagine how tough it is for some.

Something needs done. Im not the one the come up with the idea or i wouldn't be posting here. But i can't wrap my head around how minimum wage is less than what it takes to actually live comfortably
Yes, I very much get that, and of course it was worse before the minimum wage. Labour introduced it in the late 90s, strongly opposed by the Tories at the time. To be fair the Tories did come round to the idea and now support it, but it was certainly one of the successes of Labour government of that time.
 
That just isn't true. Full time permanent jobs are already in serious decline and we are only just beginning to see jobs being replaced by technology. The next decade will see a huge change.

Well said. This will be particularly relevant to low skilled jobs which are easier to replicate with robot type roles.
 
Yes, I very much get that, and of course it was worse before the minimum wage. Labour introduced it in the late 90s, strongly opposed by the Tories at the time. To be fair the Tories did come round to the idea and now support it, but it was certainly one of the successes of Labour government of that time.

True.
But the Tories renamed it as the living wage which is a contrition in terms.
 
True.
But the Tories renamed it as the living wage which is a contrition in terms.
The living wage is a different thing to the minimum wage, and was originally promoted by citizens uk, who are leftish as far as I know. Organisations pay it voluntarily, and whilst it may not be enough it is at least higher than the minimum wage. I must admit I thought it was mostly paid by local authorities and the like, but looking at this https://www.livingwage.org.uk/accredited-living-wage-employers a lot of private employers pay it too.