Guaranteed Basic Income For Everyone Utopia

Posted: 5/1/2016 Updated: 5/3/2016

Evolution Of Welfare Systems

There is no question that the welfare systems developed over about the last 100 years in Western democracies are awful, significantly broken and a waste a lot of money.

These welfare systems do not at all achieve what politicians promise or what they want us to believe. Not to mention that these welfare systems are full of government paternalism degrading its recipients and come with dependencies on government stretching from one generation of recipients to the next.

Poverty of humans is a very relative and subjective concept. The causes and reasons for human poverty are many. Poverty is dynamic, e.g. few able bodied and mentally able adults are poor all their live. Poverty is a fact of live.

Utopia Or The Fall Of Nations

The basic income for everyone idea is a fallacy like any cornucopia idea before.

1. The Roman Empire tried more welfare, we know what happened to the empire. The historical lessons are clear on this. Unfortunately, government run public education is so bad that many citizens do not know about that (probably intentionally so)
2. Basic income guarantees for everyone are extremely expensive measures. So expensive that government would need to restrict access to basic income etc.
3. Enormous disincentive to open a business or to work for a living. Why would I work or bother to open a business with all its attendant troubles, if I can vote for my income to be automatically and reliably transferred into my bank account?
4. Exploitation of the minority by a majority in a democracy. Just 51% of voters could vote themselves a nice income at least theoretically expecting the rest to produce the income. What a folly!
5. Enormous incentive for immigration from abroad to obtain such benefits instead of building a business or working for your living.
6. Universal programs like guaranteed basic income for everyone are, once introduced, extremely difficult to repeal or reform because beneficiaries and lobbyists will prevent it (e.g. see U.S. Social Security or Medicare)

Baloney Or Lunatic Arguments In Defense

1. Advances in technology (e.g. robots) would supplant many jobs previously were carried out by humans. If history is any guide, then we heard these type of arguments latest since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution

Better Solutions

1. More individual and economic freedom so that individuals or families can built their own businesses or find better jobs, buy cheaper homes and health care etc.
2. More limited and smaller government
3. More private and voluntary charity and initiatives to help people in need
4. To replace the multitude of existing welfare programs like in the U.S. with some kind of targeted income only benefits for the poor or disabled

Some Critical Articles About This Subject

There are probably better articles out there.

1. The Danger of the Universal Basic Income Giving everyone a “basic income” is the latest trendy idea sweeping Silicon Valley. It’s a terrible solution to a real problem.
2. Ending Welfare as We Know It
3. The Worst Thing about a Basic Income: You'll Never Get Rid of It Social Security Shows What Happens to Universal Programs