Basic Income

There's this interesting idea that we should do away with all the welfare and aid programs and give absolutely everyone enough money to cover their basic needs.

It's not as crazy as it sounds. There's not going to be enough jobs at living wages to go around. We've reached the point where it's economical to replace fast food workers with robots. Tests are underway. Even China, with some of the cheapest labor in the world, is replacing people with machines.

Back in the '60s and '70s it was a Science Fiction dream. Drudge labor would be automated freeing mankind to follow other pursuits. Technically, we are getting there. Socially, we have much further to go. What the Science Fictions writers forgot was that those who own the machines want to have all the money.

Early adopters are being rewarded. Companies that can successfully automate their businesses benefit. They have a cost advantage over their competitors. Just as importantly there are still plenty of people with real paying jobs that can afford their products or services.

Over time, fewer and fewer people will be able to purchase even low cost items. All those nice shiny robot factors won't have any customers to sell things to. There are only a few solutions. One is to provide basic income to everyone. That way people will have the funds to keep the consumer economy going. The other solution is to ban automation and create a lot of make work jobs.

Those make work jobs aren't very satisfying to those who have to work them. Not too many people really want to spend their days doing pointless work. It's already bad. In a recent survey 30% of UK workers thought their jobs were BS. Is your job one of those?

We are quietly moving towards a Basic Income solution but nobody is calling it that. Remember those statistics about the number of households without gainfully employed people? One thing that's happening is a lot of people are ending up on the SS rolls. People who used to do blue collar factory jobs are getting doctors to sign them up for benefits.

Take a blue collar worker with a bad shoulder. He can't do the type of work he was once trained to do. If they'd been a lawyer or the CEO of a company nobody would care that he can't lift his arm over his head anymore. The only reason the guy is on SS is because he can't be trained in a job where his physical limitations won't be a problem. Even if those guys could be trained, there aren't enough of those jobs around. I personally know people who are on disability for jobs that no longer exist.

One of the big fears is that people on basic income will just hang around all day smoking weed and watching TV. Yep, that could certainly happen. So what? They aren't hurting anyone but themselves. It's ambitious people you have to watch out for.

A lot of people would spend more time raising their own kids, pursuing artistic passions and doing volunteer work.

There would still be some jobs out there for people who want them. Of course, there would be no need to spend 40 – 60 hours a week slaving away at them. Maybe 20 hours would be enough work to keep them happy.

There's nothing sacred about working hard. Ever notice that those who promote the idea of hard work tend to be in positions to benefit from the work of others? If hunter gather societies could provide for all their basic needs with an hour or two of work, why should modern man do so much worse?

I don't have a “real” job and there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day. Some folks say I'm the busiest lazy person they know.

-Sixbears

When technology fails

A lot of people are prepared for disasters. Some even have plans for long term disruptions in infrastructure. Man made and natural disasters can suddenly strip hundreds of years of technological progress out of our lives.

Some of us, recognizing our reliance on modern marvels have backups like rain catchment and solar electricity. That's great. I'm a big proponent of having backup systems in place. However, there are disasters that could take those down. For example, a storm that took the grid down almost dropped a huge hemlock tree on my solar panels. It was a near miss.

An earthquake that destroys a city's water system could also destroy a home owner's water catchment system. An EMP that fries the phone system could also destroy ham radio equipment.

It's only prudent to be able to function at a much more primitive level. Our needs for shelter, food, water and safety do not end just because the modern means of providing those things does. With that in mind it's good to have a plan to survive at a low tech level, at least for days if not months.

I'm fortunate in that I've a well that overflows year round. All I need is some sort of container to haul water back to my house. My home has woodstoves and the hand tools needed to process wood, crosscut saws, axes, mauls, wedges, and sledge hammers. Decent hunting and fishing is within walking distance from my house. We've a small garden plus there's a lot of native edible plants nearby.

There are ways to provide for our basic needs. Looks good on paper. The problem is that all those things take a lot more time and work doing it the old fashioned way. While it's possible to do any of those things, there just aren't enough hours in the day to do them all. Then there's the problem of having to be in two places at the same time. If I'm out hunting I'm not home defending the homestead.

Our ancestors lived in extended family groups for a reason. It was the only way to get everything done. Plenty of jobs go better with two or more people. Take something as simple as chopping wood. One guy handles the actual chopping with an ax. A second person moves the chopped wood aside and readies the next log to be chopped. Add a third or fourth person and then the wood can be piled up. When someone gets tired or bored with their job, they can switch tasks.

If we are lucky we won't be reduced to that level, but it's good to have a plan -and a group willing to work together.

-Sixbears