Indian government to endorse Universal Basic Income
- Thread starter bsmooth
- Start date
That would be crazy if India led the way forward on this. I really expected it to be some technologically-infused nation first.
But when they talk about the benefits, I can see how it would be as good for them as for a rich nation.
India especially has a problem with a massive demographic shift from rural areas to urban areas. Everyone wants to make money because small farms don't feel secure anymore (there are a lot of reasons for that), because climate change is making some spots more difficult to make a living in, and because shyt happens where you need to support an aging or sick family member. So working people flee to the cities, slums grow like crazy, all sorts of social problems erupt. And the rural areas begin dying off, land gets bought up by agribusiness....it's really an ugly situation.
You give people a basic income, they don't have to worry about abandoning their land and their family to make a basic living. Some of them are going to stay in school longer. Others will stay building up the family farm longer. Others will stay home and take care of the family members who need care. And others are going to chase their dreams doing a job that is really interesting to them and that really makes a difference in the world rather than those mind-numbling slave-like jobs they've been forced to do just to make a living.
I'll copy-and-paste something I said in another thread.
The last few centuries we've had amazing time-saving technologies. A tractor can do the work of hundreds of men. A semi truck can do the work of hundreds of men. A computer can do the work of hundreds of men. And on and on and on.
We should all be working 15-20 hour weeks, tops, with all this labor-saving technology. But we don't. Because the people with the money want to keep getting even more of the money, so they force a constant-growth, interest-based economic system. A system that pushes people to work more and more "creating capital" that no one actually needs for the sole purpose of ensuring that the interest-class continues to capture most of the wealth simply by the mere fact that they own things.
It isn't like any of those rich people invented all these labor saving devices that make them wealthy. Wealthy at the expense of workers who they continuously degrade with long hours of meaningless work at low pay, or fire once they can use the profits the workers earned them to buy a machine to replace them. The entire human culture together over history has made those labor-saving advances. Everyone should benefit, but instead the poor just get laid off and have to grub for a new job, while the rich get to own all the new toys, then push the economy to a place where they keep controlling more and more of it.
We need some MAJOR changes soon. Tops among those are probably eliminating the interest-based constant-growth economy in favor of a devaluating currency (which encourages loans and the constant spreading of wealth while penalizing accumulation), and institute a universal basic income (so that everyone gets their fair share of the fact that human culture has eliminated the necessity for everyone to work) to cover the essentials of life, and gives those people the chance to actually do something meaningful with their life.
But when they talk about the benefits, I can see how it would be as good for them as for a rich nation.
India especially has a problem with a massive demographic shift from rural areas to urban areas. Everyone wants to make money because small farms don't feel secure anymore (there are a lot of reasons for that), because climate change is making some spots more difficult to make a living in, and because shyt happens where you need to support an aging or sick family member. So working people flee to the cities, slums grow like crazy, all sorts of social problems erupt. And the rural areas begin dying off, land gets bought up by agribusiness....it's really an ugly situation.
You give people a basic income, they don't have to worry about abandoning their land and their family to make a basic living. Some of them are going to stay in school longer. Others will stay building up the family farm longer. Others will stay home and take care of the family members who need care. And others are going to chase their dreams doing a job that is really interesting to them and that really makes a difference in the world rather than those mind-numbling slave-like jobs they've been forced to do just to make a living.
I'll copy-and-paste something I said in another thread.
The last few centuries we've had amazing time-saving technologies. A tractor can do the work of hundreds of men. A semi truck can do the work of hundreds of men. A computer can do the work of hundreds of men. And on and on and on.
We should all be working 15-20 hour weeks, tops, with all this labor-saving technology. But we don't. Because the people with the money want to keep getting even more of the money, so they force a constant-growth, interest-based economic system. A system that pushes people to work more and more "creating capital" that no one actually needs for the sole purpose of ensuring that the interest-class continues to capture most of the wealth simply by the mere fact that they own things.
It isn't like any of those rich people invented all these labor saving devices that make them wealthy. Wealthy at the expense of workers who they continuously degrade with long hours of meaningless work at low pay, or fire once they can use the profits the workers earned them to buy a machine to replace them. The entire human culture together over history has made those labor-saving advances. Everyone should benefit, but instead the poor just get laid off and have to grub for a new job, while the rich get to own all the new toys, then push the economy to a place where they keep controlling more and more of it.
We need some MAJOR changes soon. Tops among those are probably eliminating the interest-based constant-growth economy in favor of a devaluating currency (which encourages loans and the constant spreading of wealth while penalizing accumulation), and institute a universal basic income (so that everyone gets their fair share of the fact that human culture has eliminated the necessity for everyone to work) to cover the essentials of life, and gives those people the chance to actually do something meaningful with their life.
I think this actually has a chance in america. Republicans and Democrats both support it as an alternative to other social programs. Plus once automation really kicks in who will have the money to pay for all of these products being produced if 20 percent of the population loses their job to automation
Red Shield
Global Domination
Isn't India currently getting it's shyt pushed in by demonetization
I think it has a terrible chance in America despite that wide-ranging base support because of the relative instability of American democracy. It will require long-term planning and a massive paradigm shift in how people think about in concepts of work and the economy and I just see it as being easily derailed from gaining meaningful traction in such an ideological heavy, hyper-political country.
Menelik II
I wanna see receipts!
All major countries will have to head towards this in the 80 years. The world population is set to grow to 11bn while automation and AI is increasing exponentially AND people are living longer - it's inevitable. Those facts alone mean our current economic models will break down.
TransJenner
Banned
newworldafro
DeeperThanRapBiggerThanHH
Just get this chip in your arm Pradesh and take this vaccine Priyanka....and UBI is yours..........oh and we gone to add a social credit score like China.....where we deduct from your UBI if you crititicize corruption in Delhi or the lack of parks in Madras..................
.
I'm not saying there aren't benefits to UBI, since let's be honest, digital and robotic tools will be taking over so many functions of society ..........but a system like UBI is very technocratic and treats people like digits....so if you aren't being "efficient" you will be forced to fall off into oblivion aka basic poverty they already have.
India's population is still growing like gangbusters, even though it has slowed down, so demograhers, policy makers/technocrats feel this is how to create a more sustainable country. Like anything else it is likely going to come with sacrifices of something IMO. Maybe they can include contraceptives/prophylactics in this UBI.
My question though is do you pay taxes on UBI money?
.I'm not saying there aren't benefits to UBI, since let's be honest, digital and robotic tools will be taking over so many functions of society ..........but a system like UBI is very technocratic and treats people like digits....so if you aren't being "efficient" you will be forced to fall off into oblivion aka basic poverty they already have.
India's population is still growing like gangbusters, even though it has slowed down, so demograhers, policy makers/technocrats feel this is how to create a more sustainable country. Like anything else it is likely going to come with sacrifices of something IMO. Maybe they can include contraceptives/prophylactics in this UBI.
My question though is do you pay taxes on UBI money?
Last edited:
the cac mamba
Veteran
how about universal basic toilet paper 
baby steps
baby steps
the cac mamba
Veteran
maybe like a switzerland can pull this off, but the idea of this happening in a china or india is laughable. probably could just barely work in america
Universal basic income is better than a $15 minimum wage...
