Is Universal Basic Income The Future?

I was waiting for this video! Amazing job per the usual. Just wanted to share a (very long) word about funding, for those interested: I am a conservative libertarian, and until a few months ago, was a horrified debt hawk that saw us headed for a cliff. Now I understand that we can easily afford UBI, national health-care/insurance, infrastructure overhauls, scientific endeavors, all of it. As long as the government doesn't spend so fast that it causes inflation (in the sector that it spends in), every dollar the government spends is good for the economy. The WW2 economy was this in action. Deflation caused the Great Depression (they let the money supply diminish by 1/3-- glad we've learned our lesson), and government spending pulled us out. It caused inflation, but it's an extreme example. The bulk of the inflation from then to today actually occured in the 1970s, when oil shocks caused everything to become more expensive. (Definitionally, "inflation.") Wages also froze at that time, and that's the fun hell we've been in for the last 50 years. Among the general public, the money supply has dwindled. Focusing on the uber-rich is distracting-- the real problem is that We The People don't have any of OUR money. The United States Dollar is a public good. The federal government (Fed and Treasury) have a monopoly on the currency. The US Government does not need your filthy beer money to fund their wars. The Defence Department will NEVER have a check bounce at the Treasury, and as far as I know, Congress generally doesn't bother with "funding measures" and "offsets" when it comes to the Armed Forces. All federal departments are funded, ultimately, by the Full Faith and Credit of the United States. They use the public bank. Where have We The People gone to for money? Well, since the government won't do it's damn job and distribute the stuff, we go to private banks. There, a few entries on a ledger can make money happen by magic! Only, along with the "money," there's now "debt." And you know how the rest of that goes. These are private companies that are allowed to lord over the currency that properly belongs to the public. All banks that deal in USD should be public. Private banks, private money. (Let the insane speculators deal in their own currency and leave ours alone.) This is a broken system. UBI is the first step to the fix. The government has to spend money first in order to tax it back later. There is no other way for the government to get money. Read those two sentences again, please. All USD comes from the Federal Government. They spend it into existence. (Again, doesn't come from you, wannabe counterfeiter.) If the government spends more, it will definitionally collect more in taxes. (What we tax and by how much are decisions made for different reasons. They don't fund anything-- our politicians are pretending they do.) UBI pays for itself, just because that's how the accounting works. Every dollar that doesn't get taxed back is a dollar in somebody's savings account. (Just not yours or mine, right now.) It pays for itself under the old framework as well, since you spend less on the effects of poverty (less jails, less medical expenses, less means-tested aid, less wasted potential), and since everyone's incomes are higher, they pay more in income taxes. You can be against UBI, and that's fine. You just can't tell me we don't have the money. We have everything we need BUT the money. (And thanks for reading all that. Seriously. If you're still curious, read 'The Deficit Myth' by Stephanie Kelton. This problem cannot continue to go unaddressed. We need an Andrew Yang.)

Equating your value and status with your job and profession is an idea I've been struggling with for quite some time now. I discovered an aptitude and joy for software development at fairly young age and without realising it, my identity and sense of self worth became strongly bonded to it. But I'm so much more than that, and can be so much more, if I can find the courage to let go. I'm at a stage in my life where I feel like that identity has almost become a gilded cage that I've lived in for so long that it feels scary to leave it. The idea of a world where we can find value in a more authentic and human way is a world I would love to live in, but sadly will only ever see in literature, which genuinely makes me sad.

Oh yeah, that’s a serious concern. I mostly took an optimistic approach to this video to keep the sponsor happy. They’re not big fans of doom and gloom.

JT Chapman

Thanks! Yeah, the sources will be in the description when the video goes live on Friday.

JT Chapman

i am a LOT more pessimistic about UBI than you. i see it as a band-aid to prevent an uprising that could socialize production. there's a reason bill gates, mark zuckerberg, george soros, etc. talk about UBI positively—a UBI as a "floor", combined with automation making human labor obsolete, is a recipe for capital accumulation to continue without bound, consolidating more and more power in a tiny aristocracy while the vast majority of humanity depends on their gracious stipends. being frank, it seems like the perfect way to create a cyberpunk dystopia. keep everyone just happy enough that there are no calls to democratize production, so that political/economic power can stay consolidated forever, and the stipend can be changed at the flick of Overlord Bezos's wrist

kendall

Great video! Is there any way to get access to sources used in your videos?

Thanks so much! I’m glad you enjoy it :)

JT Chapman

thank you so much for creating this content! you’re a blessing

I love you