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Re:It Is Time For Basic Income by yummyfajitas on Saturday March 22, 2014 @08:37AM (#7448806)
If labor is abundant and machines are scarce, why is this stupid?
Re:It Is Time For Basic Income by nkoren on Saturday March 22, 2014 @09:15AM (#7448940)
Because it would be cheaper to use a machine to build the bridge, give the money you save to the people, and then let them add value to society in some other way.
Re:It Is Time For Basic Income by fishy929 on Saturday March 22, 2014 @09:50AM (#7449035)
But the economy doesn't want them, or is unable to utilize them under present conditions. Eating what you have in front of you is still more filling than waiting (or letting someone wait) for that next, bigger meal.

Of course, that also doesn't mean we shouldn't eliminate the incentives that contribute to inefficiencies being preferable. There are plenty of scenarios where people are employed to dig a proverbial hole and others are paid to fill it (patents and copyright enforcing intellectual poverty; interest on public debt, etc), even if each side spares no expense and might use the best tools available. If we were actually solving problems, prices would be going down and people would be happily unemployed (because there were less problems to resolve and less to need money to buy) at the same time as quality of life were going up. That is not what is happening.

Re:It Is Time For Basic Income by cwp on Saturday March 22, 2014 @11:42AM (#7449446)
He said "let them add value to society", not the economy. The two are not synonymous. If the economy is unable to make use of them under present conditions, then giving them a job is useless. Giving them a basic income lets them make non-economic contributions to society.
Re:It Is Time For Basic Income by dllthomas on Sunday March 23, 2014 @02:14PM (#7454326)
You're assuming the value of a person's time to themselves is zero. If it's positive, and if the economic value we're deriving from the make-work is less than it, then the make-work program is actually destroying value.
Re:It Is Time For Basic Income by chongli on Saturday March 22, 2014 @08:27PM (#7451518)
But the economy doesn't want them, or is unable to utilize them under present conditions.

Capitalist corporations don't want/are unable to utilize them. Don't confuse them with the economy which is far more grandiose and inclusive than that. There are millions of ways for humans to create value for other people, most of which would be unprofitable for capitalist corporations to pursue.

Re:It Is Time For Basic Income by moggflunkies on Saturday March 22, 2014 @11:28AM (#7449382)
Exactly and better yet - don't take the money you ultimately "save" from the people in the first place.
Re:It Is Time For Basic Income by yummyfajitas on Saturday March 22, 2014 @09:49AM (#7449027)
So direct them to do that other thing for their Basic Job and use the machine for the bridge.
Re:It Is Time For Basic Income by glomph on Saturday March 22, 2014 @10:39AM (#7449209)
Sure. That other thing is self improvement, looking for normal employment and helping their family / community or whatever else they think is important. In other words it is a basic income for the unemployed...
Re:It Is Time For Basic Income by ThomPete on Saturday March 22, 2014 @10:04AM (#7449088)
Again you should really do some research with the countries who tried or is trying this. It helps no one and cost more than it helps.
Re:It Is Time For Basic Income by Houshalter on Saturday March 22, 2014 @10:12AM (#7449115)
Because people would rather pay a small fraction of their wages to buy a machine to do their job for them. And they should. Basic income basically allows that to happen - you're employer gets the extra profit from automating you away, but the money is taxed and given back.
Re:It Is Time For Basic Income by dllthomas on Sunday March 23, 2014 @02:16PM (#7454336)
Because it means it's harder for me to get a job building those machines, which is how we make genuine progress.