Re:Moving Forward on Basic Income
by MichaelMoser123 on Wednesday June 01, 2016 @07:09AM
(#11813467)
> If people find those things fulfilling to do themselves, they will do them (and basic income allows them to do it unpaid). If other people want them to do those things, they will pay for it. If no-one wants them to do those things, there's no value in them doing it.
So it will bring down salaries - why bother with paying a salary when you can get volunteers on basic income for free?
Unpaid work by basic income receivers is an interesting question on its own - on the side of the employee there would be the question of motivation; on the side of the employer there would be questions of reliability - can one trust an unpaid employee to appear at work reliably and in time ?
> So it will bring down salaries - why bother with paying a salary when you can get volunteers on basic income for free?
I'd expect it to bring down salaries for fulfilling or enjoyable work (or "work"), while pushing up salaries for less pleasant jobs.
Re:Moving Forward on Basic Income
by MichaelMoser123 on Wednesday June 01, 2016 @07:58AM
(#11813654)
Wouldn't that be a source of distortions, like highly qualified people doing very undesirable work, just because of the money?
I think it's not a source but a removal of distortions. If there are a lot of people with PhDs but what society really needs is a few ditch diggers, then it's right that ditch diggers be highly paid. If theoretical research is "difficult" but fun and rewarding and ditch digging is "easy" but boring and stigmatized, it's right that ditch diggers be paid more than researchers - and note that this will also mean more effort is devoted to automating ditch digging than automating research.
Re:Moving Forward on Basic Income
by MichaelMoser123 on Wednesday June 01, 2016 @10:46AM
(#11814719)
I don't think that the same number of people will still feel motivated to acquire a PhD if they know that in any event ditch digging will get you more money to begin with.
We already have that - and it's currently very hard for people on welfare and/or disability to ever pull themselves out of it. With basic income it becomes possible to start working 1 hour a week, then 2, then 3..., without having to worry about losing your benefits or getting in tax trouble.
> Basic income is an attempt to deal with a growing number of people who are unemployable in the modern economy. I think a better way would be to find meaningful work for these people - maybe in such areas as caring for disabled and elderly or in education (i think we are out of luck with automating these tasks).
If people find those things fulfilling to do themselves, they will do them (and basic income allows them to do it unpaid). If other people want them to do those things, they will pay for it. If no-one wants them to do those things, there's no value in them doing it.