Thread by @elleprovocateur

July 31, 2017, #WEF: "As developments in artificial intelligence and robotics advance, there is going to be a severe and swift disruption of many working classes."

weforum.org/agenda/2017/07…

"#UBI, an economic proposition in which a sum of money is regularly paid to a population, could be a vital bulwark against the unintended consequences of #automation in the workforce."

"Companies will profit significantly from workforce #automation, so the private sector will be able to afford shouldering this burden, while at the same time still making greater #profits."

"After all, a full-time human has needs: 30 minutes for lunch each day, vacation and sick time, toilet breaks, and health benefits, to name a few. Meanwhile, an #automated worker would only require an initial installation and the occasional repair or upgrade."

"The BCG report stated that a human welder today is paid around $25 an hour (including benefits) versus the equivalent operating cost of around $8 for a robot."

“In 15 years, that gap will widen even more dramatically,” the report states. “The operating cost per hour for a robot doing similar welding tasks could plunge to as little as $2 when performance improvements are factored in.”

"This trend will only continue to accelerate. McDonald’s, an early pioneer of #automation, is already replacing human workers with automated kiosks. They expect a 5% to 9% return on investment in just the first year; in 2019 they expect this return to balloon to double digits."

"And this is only one sector: PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that 38% of US jobs will be in danger of being replaced by automation by 2030."

McKinsey (in 2020) puts this number at close to 50% by 2030.

"Companies that automate their workforces should be taxed on these #new #massive #profits, and some of the resulting capital given back to workers by the government in the form of #UBI."

"While the idea of a UBI is popular—Mark #Zuckerberg, Elon #Musk, and Bill #Gates have all championed it—how exactly would a universal basic income be engineered?

#UBI #4IR

#Crushing the disposable working class.

"Large swaths of laborers are going to lose their jobs, leading to unprecedented levels of unemployment."

That moment has arrived.

April 7, 2020: "Spain to become first European country to introduce Universal Basic Income"

morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/spai…

"... w/ some economists suggesting that automation could potentially replace over half of all jobs by 2055."

"the disruption to workers' lives will be significant"

Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World
Global Agenda, #Davos, Jan 2018
World Economic Forum

#4IR

June 20 2019: "UBI would strengthen & even create financial markets, particularly for consumer credit, mortgages, & #pensions. Far from [] a revolutionary route to freedom from the whip of the market, #UBI may end up yoking all citizens to rentier capital through #indebtedness."

Jan 31 2019: "If #UBI is implemented in the current climate of austerity, economic precarity, & soc. entrepren., you can be sure payments will be linked to #digital #identity to track "impact."
That $1k a month.... just enough to scrape by." @Philly852

wrenchinthegears.com/2019/01/31/goo…