Thread by @antiscarcity

Proponents of Universal Basic Income #UBI (in no particular order):

“I am now convinced that the simplest approach will prove to be the most effective—the solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income.”

- Martin Luther King Jr., 1967

“I think we’ll end up doing universal basic income”... ”It’s going to be necessary” … ”There will be fewer and fewer jobs that a robot cannot do better” ... ”These are not things I wish will happen. These are things I think probably will happen.”

- Elon Musk (@elonmusk), 2017

“We should explore new ideas like universal basic income so that everyone has a cushion to try new ideas.”

- Mark Zuckerberg, 2017

“What fascinates me the most is some of the ideas around universal basic income.”

- Jack Dorsey (@jack), 2019

“We should replace the ragbag of specific welfare programs with a single comprehensive program of income supplements in cash” ... ”which would do more efficiently and humanely what our present welfare system does so inefficiently and inhumanely.”

- Milton Friedman, 1980

“We're going to have to consider new ways of thinking about these problems, like a universal income.”

- Barack Obama (@BarackObama), 2018

“I think that is a very correct idea” … ”and I absolutely support it.”

- Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders), 2017

“What I am proposing is that the Federal Government build a foundation under the income of every American family.”

- Richard Nixon, 1969

“Create a national fund, out of which there shall be paid to every person“ ... “the sum of fifteen pounds sterling, as a compensation in part for the loss of his or her natural inheritance, by the introduction of the system of landed property.”

- Thomas Paine, 1797

“I’m attracted to something along the lines of the policy now being championed by Andrew Yang” ... ”enacting a value-added tax and using the revenue to provide every American with a universal basic income.”

- Greg Mankiw, 2019

“If we replace a dangerous job with a machine, that's a good thing. That doesn't mean you simply displace the worker and throw him or her out on the street, and that raises the question of basic income for everybody.”

- Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders), 2017

“There's no reason whatsoever that we essentially start at $12,000 below the poverty line” ... ”it makes sense to actually just start there, so that people don't enter poverty at all. That we just essentially abolish it.”

- Scott Santens (@scottsantens), 2020

@scottsantens “We will have no choice but to look at innovative new solutions for employment such as Basic Income as AI advances.“

- Marc Benioff (@Benioff), 2017

“The public has to be provided with the means of purchasing what the machines produce“ ... “'That's not fair!' 'Who's gonna pay for it?' The answer is the machine. The machine pays for it, because the machine works for the manufacturer and for the community.“

- Alan Watts, 1960s

“Right now a $1000 per person in the US would cost $330 bn a month. Do it for three months, while economic life is disrupted“ ... “Doesn't solve everything, but would be straightforward and progressive in its impact.“

- Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes), 2020