This
critique reveals the unintended consequences of UBI.
Readers
have been asking me what I thought of Universal Basic Income (UBI) as the
solution to the systemic problem of jobs being replaced by automation.To
answer this question, I realized I had to start by taking a fresh look at work
and its role in human life and society. And since UBI is fundamentally a
distribution of money, I also needed to take a fresh look at our system of
money.
That
led to a radical critique of Universal Basic Income (UBI) and an outline for a
much more sustainable and just system of money and work than we have now. To
adequately explore these critical topics, I ended up writing a 50,000 word
book, Money and Work Unchained.
Universal
Basic Income (UBI) is increasingly being held up as the solution to
automation's displacement of human labor. UBI combines two
powerful incentives: self-interest (who couldn't use an extra $1,000 per month)
and an idealistic commitment to guaranteeing everyone material security and
reducing the rising income inequality that threatens our social contract--a
topic I've addressed many times over the past decade.
UBI's
goals--guaranteeing material security and reducing income inequality--are not
just worthy; they are essential. The question then becomes:
how do we achieve these goals?
The
conventional critiques of UBI focus on the practicalities of funding such a
substantial universal entitlement. Where will the
trillions of extra dollars required come from? Can we pay for UBI by
"taxing the robots" or borrowing/ printing more currency?
But
a radical critique must go much, much further, and ask: is UBI the best that we
can do? If we provide the basics of material security--the bottom
level of Maslow's hierarchy of human needs--what
about all the higher needs for positive social roles,
meaningful work, and the opportunity to build capital?
This
critique reveals the unintended consequences of UBI:rather
than deliver a Utopia, UBI institutionalizes serfdom and
a two-class neofeudalism in which the bottom 95% scrape by on UBI while the top
5% hoard what every human wants and needs: positive
social roles in our community, meaningful work that makes us feel needed, and
the opportunity to build capital in all its manifestations.
UBI
is the last gasp of a broken, dying system, a
"solution" that institutionalizes all the injustices of serfdom under
the guise of aiding those left behind by automation. We can do better--we must
do better--and I lay out how to do so in this book.
A
radical critique must also examine the widely accepted assumption that
automation will destroy most jobs. Is this assumption
valid? It turns out this assumption rests on a completely false understanding
of the nature of work, the economics of automation and the presumed stability
of an unsustainable global economy.
I'm
offering Money and Work Unchained to my readers at a 25%
discount ($7.45 for the Kindle ebook and $15 for the print edition) through
Saturday, December 9, after which the price goes up to retail ($9.95 and $20).
If you found value in this content, please join me in seeking solutions by becoming a $1/month patron of my work via patreon.com.
If you found value in this content, please join me in seeking solutions by becoming a $1/month patron of my work via patreon.com.