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We now commence Part 3 of the book: Solutions and Human Capitalism.
Chapter 16: The Freedom Dividend.
Chapter 16: The Freedom Dividend.
He acknowledges that at this point, I must be thinking, "Wow, this guy's view of the future is bleak." A friend who read it said, "You should change the title to 'We're Fucked.'"
I was thinking just that. I was almost too depressed to keep reading, actually.
I was thinking just that. I was almost too depressed to keep reading, actually.
But I'm a professional. I was given this book to review. I can't stop now.
He alludes to Peter Frase, who says work encompasses three things: the means by which the economy produces goods and services, the means by which people earn income, and an activity that lends meaning or purpose to people's lives.
In a future without jobs, he writes, we need to tackle these one at a time. People will need to provide for themselves and their basic needs. The government needs to step in to prevent squalor, despair, and violence.
The sooner they act, the better. (This I assume on the theory that once everything breaks down, it's harder to put it together.)
The first major change with be the UBI, or Freedom Dividend. The US should provide an annual income of $12,000 to every American age 18-64.
This should replace the vast majority of existing welfare programs. The poverty line is $11,770; we would alleviate gross poverty.
Everyone would get it, from billionaires to single mothers in Virginia. UBI, unlike traditional welfare programs, reduces the disincentive to work.
He proceeds to list the people who think this is a good idea: Thomas Paine, Martin Luther King, Richard Nixon (not exactly), Milton Friedman, Bernie Sanders, Stephen Hawking, Obama, Warren Buffett,
Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, his mom.
The benefits are presented in a bullet-point list:
The benefits are presented in a bullet-point list:
It would be a stimulus to lower-cost areas; help people to avoid making terrible decisions; allow them to transition to new industries; support parents; restore optimism; sustain the consumer economy; maintain order.
It would boost job growth. The cost would be $1.3 trillion p/a. A patchwork of 126 welfare programs with perverse incentives and bureaucracies would mostly disappear.
The most sensible way to pay it would be with a VAT. This will prevent companies from wriggling away from the tax man.
We'd then all root for progress: the mechanic in Appalachia could celebrate every time someone else got rich.
Businesses would benefit from the fact that customers have more money.
Businesses would benefit from the fact that customers have more money.
Most of the money would be spent locally.
End chapter. Seems like a band-aid on a sucking chest wound, given the problems he's described.
End chapter. Seems like a band-aid on a sucking chest wound, given the problems he's described.
