this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2021
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It's a liberal perspective on fixing inequalities.
See, instead of envisioning a system where policies are devised at a societal level in order to tackles our needs, it imagines poorness and inequalities as an issue related to purchasing power.
That thinking might build up perverse effect.
Imagine a scenario :
I'm walking 10km everyday to work in the city, and so does my whole village.
The universal basic income (ubi) allows me to buy and maintain really good running shoes. One neighbor can even afford a bike.
In another configuration the city could have dedicated part of its budget implementing public transportation.
The ubi at its core assume that individuals are the key unit, coupled with the whole neo liberal ideology that the "egoistic action of an individual benefit society at large". One might sees why this idea is getting traction at the moment. It's an idea that relies on the belief that the "market" will provides for our need. The ubi subsume political process and action by the market.
I think a UBI can sit in parallel with other initiatives. For instance you can have universal healthcare and education, while still having UBI.
I also think that just because an idea can be perverted, it doesn't mean that it has to be that way or that there is no positive sides to it.
I'm critical of UBI as a single, silver bullet. However, I do think that there is potential for it to play a role in creating more just societies.
Often proponents of UBI say that to finance it one can replace the inefficient provision of other social services, so having both is usually not the argument.
I think what most people fail to understand is that the very basis of our current economic system is to incentivize people to find exploits (see all the talk about "disruptors" and so on). And it is an unhealthy co-dependent relationship with the bureaucratic regulators, who to a large extend justify their existence on curbing the worst excesses of these exploits.
I think when people talk about UBI replacing wellfare, they're mostly talking about things like food stamps and disability pay. Basic infastructure like public transit and basic necessicities like free universal healthcare and education would not be negatively affected.