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Re:Moving Forward on Basic Income by qq66 on Wednesday June 01, 2016 @02:06AM (#11812340)
The right to turn down all work, at an evolutionary level, is granted only to photosynthetic organisms.
Re:Moving Forward on Basic Income by themartorana on Wednesday June 01, 2016 @02:18AM (#11812381)
The right to free speech and religious expression at an evolutionary level is non-existent. What's your point?
Re:Moving Forward on Basic Income by landryraccoon on Wednesday June 01, 2016 @03:32AM (#11812659)
Free speech and freedom of religion demands nothing of your neighbors except non interference. Basic income, on the other hand, demands their labor (at our current level of technology). In the future automation may change this, but right now there is a big gap between demanding free as in speech and free as in beer.
Re:Moving Forward on Basic Income by ItendToDisagree on Wednesday June 01, 2016 @03:53AM (#11812732)
It in fact does not require their labor. It requires effective taxation of land and distribution of said taxation effectively.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgism "... revenues from a land value tax (LVT) can reduce or eliminate existing taxes on labor and investment that are unfair and inefficient. Some Georgists also advocate for the return of surplus public revenue back to the people through a basic income or citizen's dividend."

Re:Moving Forward on Basic Income by webXL on Wednesday June 01, 2016 @08:45AM (#11813898)
This is the second time I've seen"taxation of land" in this thread as if the dirt my house is sitting on has the ability to write checks to the local government. I might be missing something, but all tax revenue ultimately comes from profits, or the difference between our value of something and its cost. That difference requires someone's labor. Even if there's a ton of gold under my house, someone has to dig it up, process it and find buyers. You might not think I'm entitled to 100% of the profits, but it's naive to think you're somehow not taxing labor.
Re:Moving Forward on Basic Income by drumdance on Wednesday June 01, 2016 @10:09AM (#11814452)
All taxes come from private enterprise. All of them. It may be displaced by time, so that money I made last year pays taxes next year, but there was labor. That's why money even exists - as a store of value.
Re:Moving Forward on Basic Income by unclesaamm on Wednesday June 01, 2016 @10:42AM (#11814686)
I find it misleading that American enterprise can ever be wholly "private", when it depends so much on regulation, subsidies, and public resources. Taxation goes to support the common infrastructure that makes any work possible. Problem?
Re:Moving Forward on Basic Income by drumdance on Wednesday June 01, 2016 @01:03PM (#11816092)
Unless private parties -- consumers -- buy stuff, there is no income. The government can intervene and distort things (and should -- I'm not a libertarian) but if there is no private commerce, there is nothing to tax.

In a society with no regulation, people still partake in commerce. It has lots of problems and I wouldn't want to live in, say, Somalia, but Somalis still engage in trade and the strongmen who run such places depend on that.

Re:Moving Forward on Basic Income by marknutter on Wednesday June 01, 2016 @11:49AM (#11815368)
> I find it misleading that American enterprise can ever be wholly "private"

It can, but not if the government grabs control of resources and industries. Do you really think corporations would simply sit on their hands if government services and resources went away? They would respond by filling the demand.

Re:Moving Forward on Basic Income by andrenth on Wednesday June 01, 2016 @11:41PM (#11820205)
What depends on those things is our cronyism system that many people mistakenly believe to be capitalism.

Enterprises would benefit if the government stepped aside and let a true free market develop.

Re:Moving Forward on Basic Income by jeffdavis on Wednesday June 01, 2016 @02:56AM (#11812527)
So... let's make some solar panels and relax?
Re:Moving Forward on Basic Income by vehementi on Wednesday June 01, 2016 @02:16AM (#11812376)
The rest of the animal kingdom doesn't have their food stockpiled behind lock and key.
Re:Moving Forward on Basic Income by stubish on Wednesday June 01, 2016 @03:06AM (#11812556)
What sort of organism is our society? As a group, we have granted the right to turn down all work to numerous individuals. Since before we picked up tools we have been driven to minimize unwanted labour. Perhaps we are evolving into the 0.01%
Re:Moving Forward on Basic Income by lambertsimnel on Wednesday June 01, 2016 @02:23AM (#11812410)
Much of the work we do is not paid employment, but rather parenting, caring, housework, slavery, unpaid volunteering, unpaid interning, etc. Even claiming welfare takes time and effort.