Do you support Universal Basic Income?

[jorgevlorgan]

Curious minds would like to know (mine).

46 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	I support a UBI that supports a person's entire cost of living.
	10 (22%)
	I support some level of UBI that would supplement a person's cost of living.
	29 (63%)
	I do not support Universal Basic Income on any level, as that money would be better suited towards other social services.
	3 (7%)
	No.
	1 (2%)
	I support UBI on some level.
	3 (7%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[Sherman A1]

1. I support Andrew Yang's concept of $1000 per month

for each citizen 18 years and over. I don't think UBI should cover every bit of one's cost of living but create a world where our income's do not start at zero.

[jorgevlorgan]

2. I would prefer the total cost of living, but that is without thinking through the practical

applications of doing so. I am pleased so far with the results of this poll. Very cool!

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

15. My cost of living should include a Mercedes Benz

My friends all drive Porsches; I must make amends.

[jorgevlorgan]

44. Exactly. Different levels of quality of life make that a tough task to fulfill

[Andy823]

7. I agree. nt

[trueblue2007]

38. i support $750 to $1,000 a month. My Social Security is only $800.00 a month. That is all.

[gollygee]

3. Yes, but I don't know enough about the specifics to judge between your two "yes" options

But generally yes. I'd need more information beyond that.

[jorgevlorgan]

4. Good answer!

I will add a general yes to the mix

[mvd]

5. I think it should help prevent poverty, and other parts..

of the social safety net should cover much of the rest of the basic cost of living. For example, Medicare For All (or the public option if that is passed sooner) could help with health care costs.

[Hoyt]

6. I'm for sometimes like UBI, but think to get it off the ground

and take care of those who really need it, it should phase-out over some income level.

Not sure what that is, but the bottom 20th percentile, or so, need to be helped soon.

[qazplm135]

8. I think it needs to be studied further

but I have no idea of the ramifications or consequences.

OK, we give everyone 1000 bucks lets say. Does inflation mean everyone's cost of living just rises by 1000 bucks? Are we eventually right back where we were?

Why are we giving it to everyone as opposed to means testing it via taxation?
(OK, start off that everyone gets it, but then as you make more money over the course of a year, you have to pay it back in taxes, zeroing out at a certain level...e.g. if I make 250K in a year, that 1000 bucks to me is unnecessary).

Wouldn't this be better served as another EITC? Additional money designed to get people out of poverty?

1000 bucks to someone in area X is going to have more/less purchasing power to someone in Area Y. Are we going to be adjusting this for cost of living?

I think "just give everyone x amount of dollars" sounds simple, but I think more study needs to be done first. Some more experiments done.

[Hortensis]

9. Hillary Clinton consider(ed)(s) is necessary and doable.

Of course, since she decided with so many other priorities also on the table it would be best to leave it for later the Republicans have gutted our treasury six ways from Sunday and multiplied the disasters to be dealt with.

But yes. It's a natural evolution of enormously increased production and energy availability and diminished need for labor.

[jorgevlorgan]

10. +10,000

[lunatica]

35. If robots are taking over the work

then people should be compensated for losing their jobs.

Besides, if everyone is guaranteed a living compensation then more money will circulate as things that are normally too expensive for the poor are purchased.

[Hortensis]

37. Robots can't replace consumers; or if they could, shhh!

[lunatica]

39. Well that another plus right there!

[pnwest]

11. I selected no, but also would be open

to further study. I think something quicker, and easier for righties to accept, is a national minimum wage starting at $15. I’d much rather earn a living wage than have a UBI that I’m paying into with my taxes. Tax me and then pay it back to me?

Now, something like Alaska’s UBI which is really more like a dividend from oil profits would be ok. That’s not taking tax money to pay me back with.

[meadowlander]

17. I think UBI recognises that we have an economy now

that is just never going to create the kinds of jobs that some people can only get. And it's pointless to continue with "make work" jobs that no one actually needs or to throw people into abject poverty because they can't find work.

Not everyone is cut out to be a computer programmer or electrical engineer or doctor or architect or novelist or movie star or professional athlete. Machines will be replacing most manual labour and service jobs and quite a few white collar jobs over the next 20-30 years.

So rather than raise the minimum wage on non-essential and soon to be obsolete jobs, why not recognise that everyone has a right to basic dignity in their life and that a civilised society will provide that for people regardless of whether there happens to be the right proportion of low skills jobs and low skills workers.

It's well within the means of the US to provide housing, a college level education and health care for everyone. There's always money for wars and tax breaks and bank bail-outs and corporate welfare. Enough already.

I think UBI should cover the equivalent of 20 hours a week at minimum wage. And we should move to a standard 20 hour work week for everyone with the option to work longer hours if you want to. That way lots of companies will be hiring as much as twice as many people, people will have more time to spend with their kids or pursue their own interests, and everyone will have a baseline level of support.

[lunatica]

36. I agree with everything you say.

I would add that having decent housing for everyone should also be a right, along with healthcare and food. Especially for the elderly. A guaranteed education would lift everyone who wants it.

If people want to get rich after that then let them if they can.

[Revanchist]

12. I support a UBI that decreases based on income

The UBI would be set at x and every dollar you make decreases the amount you'd receive from UBI. The tricky part is figuring out what the minimum is. Someone in rural Kentucky will have a much lower cost of living compared to San Francisco.

[marlakay]

16. Needs to be set up so people will still want to work

I think giving a set amount for first $50,000 of income then decreasing as you make more.

That way all the poor and working poor and lower middle class have a lift up.

But I agree about where you live, I know big companies that pay more based on that so it could be worked out.

[PoiBoy]

13. Here is some information from Yang's campaign...

..it's dated, but the concepts are still valid.. I hope it answers some questions here...

https://www.yang2020.com/what-is-freedom-dividend-faq/

[PoiBoy]

43. As I understand it...

...yes..

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

14. How in the world would you calculate everyone's total cost of living?

Some people live a lot more frugally than others. Some live in places that are more expensive than others.

I think a UBI of $1,000 makes sense. And give it to everyone. But do raise marginal tax rates on incomes over, I dunno, $300k/year. And raise the upper limit on FICA at the same time.

Another thing that I've never seen proposed by anyone else, is that everyone should get Food Stamps, SNAP. Everyone. If you don't need your allotment, use it to buy food for the homeless, or some such. You get a card that is automatically reloaded the first of every month, so if you don't use it all it goes away. Which is the same system I'd propose for UBI.

And the UBI should max out at around $3k/per household.

[bluedye33139]

18. A lot of the calculations are based on the federal poverty level

It's around $12,800 currently. The $1,000 a month would approximate the poverty level.

Personally, I believe in means testing, but I know that is not a popular idea these days. I don't think I need the UBI, and I do worry that money coming to me or people making more than me would in some ways just exacerbate inequality.

[Voltaire2]

19. You don't. You set a floor income level - that is the UBI - everyone gets that.

That floor should be enough to guarantee that nobody has to go without food clothing and shelter.

The two yes options are both wrong answers.

[Yavin4]

20. I support guaranteed jobs.

Anyone who wants a job gets one. Give people leverage on their jobs.

[irisblue]

21. I'm too physical damaged now to do my previous job. What then?

[Yavin4]

23. Not all jobs require physical labor.

You could be an online counselor/tutor for kids. Deliver meals to the elderly.

[irisblue]

28. I am the elderly, and I'm getting hooked up with meals on wheels, cuz grocery shopping $$$

I suggest, think some at a different angle on your everyone gets a job

[Sherman A1]

22. What when the jobs are automated away?

What then?

[MichMan]

24. Doing what ?

What types of jobs would these be?

[Yavin4]

27. Machines cannot do everything.

Nor should they. There will be jobs requiring human interaction. Tutoring children. Serving meals to the elderly. Art.

We've had ATMs since the 1980s but we still have bank tellers.

[Amishman]

33. No, but we are close to replacing easily 20-30% of all jobs

I know, I configure and implement financial software that eliminates jobs by the hundreds. I've done automated underwriting systems, loan origination systems, email monitoring and compliance, and more.

I work in one corner of this, mostly replacing office jobs. The big impact will be on manual labor. Fruit harvesting robots are being tested. Trucking/freight hauling. Wearhouse automation. Stocking shelves in stores. Fast food meal preparation.

It's coming.

[Voltaire2]

26. nothing more rewarding than busy work.

[blogslut]

25. I support a minimum wage that corresponds to the cost of living.

I support affordable housing.

I support public K-12.

I support free college education and technical training.

I support free and expanded public transportation.

I support extending and improving social services and eliminating the labyrinthine paths to obtaining them.

I support Medicare for All.

If we had these things, we would not need universal basic income. I think UBI is a temporary fix instead of a long-term solution.

[pansypoo53219]

29. we need a new WPA, all the depression era alphabets. fix america.

swing back to zombie FDR. kill zombie reagan. make GOPers cry.

[ibegurpard]

30. Not unless it would cover base living costs.

What would then happen to other forms of assistance? And would employers be able to use it to justify paying less like they do where tip credits allow them to pay servers less than minimum wage? Far too many moving parts for me to support anything less than that if we were to go down that road.

[Alex4Martinez]

31. It wouldn't need to be very high if we provided public services like:

free public transit, higher education, health, affordable housing, internet access, communications, etc.

And, bust monopolies, tax wealth, end wars, and we're more than covered.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

32. It certainly would've helped during this pandemic.

Many people upset about the shut-downs were mostly worried about loss of income.

[Hekate]

34. Andrew Yang was very persuasive on the subject, so yes

[gulliver]

40. Only if coupled with Job Guarantee

We need to make sure the work gets done. Ultimately, money is imaginary. If we all retired today, we'd all starve in short order.

What we need is guaranteed jobs, a mix of private sector and government jobs. It would be sort of like what we have now, except that the government would become an unrestrained consumer of private sector goods, services, and labor. The goal would be to provide a floor on income but no ceiling. Nutritious food, stable shelter, and health care should be considered human rights. But we need to ensure shared responsibility to provide for those rights, and that means bearing that burden is a "human responsibility."

[GeorgeGist]

42. Jeff Bezos cost of living ...

or mine?

[jorgevlorgan]

45. I think Bezos lives off of about 100k a year

And keeps his billions in investments and offshore accounts.

[Xolodno]

46. Lets get back to an understandable...

...Gini Coefficient and Lorenze Curve first...that is better income equality.

Once there, then we can assess if UBI is needed, and if it is, then so be it. Let the data and science drive this, not ideological responses to 30+ years of monetarism. If anything, lets hold UBI as the Spectre to go back to Keynesian Economics, unless they, the insanely rich, renounce Milton Friedman.