Why some Oakland residents won't have to worry about rent

Basic income! The inevitable as robots continue to take over and globalism becomes a more powerful force.

Why some Oakland residents won't have to worry about rent

The Silicon Valley organization, known for its elite accelerator program, announced in January that it was footing the bill for a long-term study on what people do -- and how they feel -- when their basic expenses are covered.

Known as basic income, it's a form of social security. People get a lump sum of money on a regular basis to cover the cost of rent and food without needing to work for it.

I know what's going to happen.

Mental retardation...
Get fat...
Drugs....
Alcoholism...
Zombie apocalypse..

Just kidding. What do I really think will happen?

Art...
Education...
Expansion...
Less stress...
Take care of the kids better...
Some more laziness at first...
Possibly some alcoholism...
Take care of elderly better...

What do you think?

What do I think?

It doesn't matter. People always spend beyond their means (on average). Spend too much, over stretch your living budget and the stress comes back.

why would we even need money if we could get robots to do everything.robots don`t need to be paid so we could have robots making robots that could do everything from mining raw materials to making the things we use in everyday life,then everything could be free.
want a new car? no problem just go get one free because it didn`t cost anything to make the car.

a reply to: Tardacus

Resources have a value as they are limited.

I could see needing a currency in order to control the amount of resources we can use at any given time.

They'll spend more time sitting on their asses consuming mass media, at first.

After a while they'll start to wonder why some of their not-so-basic needs are covered, too.

a reply to: onequestion

I think that you're right.

I also think that you're going to get clobbered. Good luck.

I would do what I do with the tiny bit of free time I have now.
Spend time with my sick mother.
Writing.
Sculpting.

They tried a similar type of thing with a recent UK TV documentary. A number of long-term welfare claiming famlies were given their year's social security money as a single lump sum, a suitcase of cash. How they spent the money was entirely up to them.

So What did they do? They all used it to try and better their circumstance, by setting themselves up in business etc., to get themselves out of the social security rut.

It will be interesting to see how a similar situation works out in this American setting.

originally posted by: onequestion
Basic income! The inevitable as robots continue to take over and globalism becomes a more powerful force.

Why some Oakland residents won't have to worry about rent

The Silicon Valley organization, known for its elite accelerator program, announced in January that it was footing the bill for a long-term study on what people do -- and how they feel -- when their basic expenses are covered.

Known as basic income, it's a form of social security. People get a lump sum of money on a regular basis to cover the cost of rent and food without needing to work for it.

I know what's going to happen.

Mental retardation...
Get fat...
Drugs....
Alcoholism...
Zombie apocalypse..

Just kidding. What do I really think will happen?

Art...
Education...
Expansion...
Less stress...
Take care of the kids better...
Some more laziness at first...
Possibly some alcoholism...
Take care of elderly better...

What do you think?

originally posted by: lordcomac
After a while they'll start to wonder why some of their not-so-basic needs are covered, too.

Yep. Give 'em an inch and they'll take a mile.

Some people would take advantage and do something productive with their lives. However, I suspect a lot of them are going to just piss the money away. Eventually, they will be broke again and clamoring for someone to take care of them.

A basic income would not get rid of any of our current welfare state problems. It would just exacerbate them over the long run.

a reply to: Edumakated

A basic income would not get rid of any of our current welfare state problems. It would just exacerbate them over the long run.

If you haven't noticed we don't need anymore people in the workforce.

What do you suggest we do with the people that aren't needed?

Making some people lazy might be exactly what we need.

a reply to: Motorhead

Did they screen people before they gave out the money? Did they pick random people on the rolls to hand out money. Did the TV direct people on what to do with the money.

not to be Mr Obvious, but the only way to have a middle class have a group of people that are richer then you and to have a group of people poorer then you.

What you are saying is that there will be two classes. The rich, Clintons, Gates, Trump, The Zuck, and so on, then there will be the rest of us, equally poor. Equality, like the Doyle family, RULES

a reply to: onequestion

If robots replace workers, then humans begin to lose value in the eyes of the establishment. Basic income will cause an inflationary trend. We'll go back to the Roman Empire. The government will have to provide for the people who have no labor value. It will open a demand for slave labor.

Well, they're going to have to come up with something. Increasing population plus increasing automation guarantees increasing unemployment.

If the establishment insists on running things in that direction, they're going to have to fund a way to keep the "no available job" class from going without.

If they don't, things will get mighty ugly, mighty quick

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but humans have already lost value as far as the establishment is concerned.

Watch the movie Wallie. It's a kids movie by Disney. But that's what will happen.

originally posted by: CantStandIt
a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but humans have already lost value as far as the establishment is concerned.

I realize that. That is exactly why they're trying to pull this Oakland crap off, and everyone thinks its an invitation to a block-party.

originally posted by: onequestion
a reply to: Edumakated

A basic income would not get rid of any of our current welfare state problems. It would just exacerbate them over the long run.

If you haven't noticed we don't need anymore people in the workforce.

What do you suggest we do with the people that aren't needed?

Making some people lazy might be exactly what we need.

What we need to do is get some of these people in the military. I realize that its an unpopular opinion, but right now, the world pretty much hates our guts. Once we lose control of the oil marked, we're gonna have the world after us.

oops, duplicate