this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2024
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[–] [email protected] 121 points 8 months ago (2 children)

If they don’t want money to be a birthright they should make it so money isn’t necessary to stay alive

[–] [email protected] 23 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Hmm, that could definitely be phrased more powerfully.

  • If they don't want money to be a birthright, then poverty and destitution shouldn't be free?
  • Life's necessities shouldn't be paywalled if they don't want birthright funds?
  • To oppose money as a birthright is to support survival not being held hostage by financial scarcity?

Or whatever. Idk, I spent too much time on this. It was fun though!

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 8 months ago (8 children)

I'm sure the average Republican would say being alive isn't a birthright either.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 8 months ago

Unless you’re an embryo.

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[–] [email protected] 73 points 8 months ago (1 children)

If you aren’t desperate, they can’t exploit you

[–] [email protected] 27 points 8 months ago (2 children)

"A hungry dog is an obedient dog" is an actual quote from one of these ghouls.

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[–] [email protected] 68 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Stephanie Hendon, 34, lived in a shelter while her husband was living on the street, making it difficult for them to raise their four kids. After a year of payments from the Austin Guaranteed Income Pilot, she had a three-bedroom apartment, a new car, clothes for her children, a new job, and new financial strategies for the future.

This is what GOap fights against: The literal improvement of peoples existence.

Never vote Republican. They hate you!

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[–] [email protected] 61 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Survival is a birthright you absolute fucking vultures. We made money a requirement for that.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 8 months ago (1 children)

And it's not like you can screw off into the forest to live a self-sufficient life either, because I'm pretty sure that's illegal in most places in the world. If the forest isn't already devoid of resources due to human activity that is.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It's also just a ridiculous proposition. So much media tells us this is possible, but no, it's not, not even if you find a virgin jungle. Professional survivalists who train and study for it still wouldn't be able to actually live a full life - at some point you're vulture food without society. We're cooperative, tribal animals. That's our strength, and we've built economic systems designed to take that strength from us.

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[–] [email protected] 43 points 8 months ago (2 children)

UBI is the perfect capitalist solution to the majority of problems. It should allow for less market distortion and could have some really interesting outcomes.

I'm very excited to see a first world country use UBI.

That an externalities can go a long, long way in this world.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago (20 children)

Capitalism depends on the threat of homelessness to function. UBI can definitely ameliorate the problems of capitalism, but capitalists will constantly fight it. UBI is also a great idea within socialist economies, where there would be no force against it. We should be doing both - eliminate capitalism and provide UBI.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago

It's literally a capitalist solution it's so funny.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 8 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

"Money isn't a birthright" says political faction in favor of tax-free inheritance for its filthy rich members. More at 11:00.

EDIT: weird mobile correction typo

[–] [email protected] 12 points 8 months ago (1 children)

That's different. Those inter-generational landlords went out and earned it.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago

Could you do what they did? No, I didn't think so!

It's not easy being born to the right family, if it was easy everyone would do it and it wouldn't pay so well! Duhhhhhh

:P

[–] [email protected] 37 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (11 children)

How else are you supposed to stabilize a highly-developed postindustrial economy with increasingly rare opportunities to get ahead for most of the population? Didn't you people read your Friedrich Hayek?

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[–] [email protected] 35 points 8 months ago (1 children)

'Is money a birthright now?'

Only for some. Or are we outlawing inheritances as well?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago

Rich Republicans and their useful idiots: vampire hissing sound DEATH TAX! additional hissing

[–] [email protected] 31 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Sorry, helping the poor is too Christ-like for Republicans.

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I'm a Lifelong Republican and I LOVE how the Republican Party is a CHAMPION for the Working Class! Money is NOT a Birthright unless you're already super rich and then it's OK to suck at the Government's Teat!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago

Lol I came so close to downvoting. You really need a /s in there.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

Is money a birthright now?

No but there are a lot of birthrights which are increasingly only available if you have money.

The system used to be to give those things away for free to people who can't afford them - but that's changing. Just giving money to poor people is far easier.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago

there are a lot of birthrights which are increasingly only available if you have money

This is the logical consequence of the anti-new-deal/anti-desegregation/anti-civil-rights jurisprudence that turns on capital supremacy and property rights trumping the notion that the state has an interest in protecting any other sort of right; it's something the capital supremacy folks have always wanted but which the desegregation crowd finally joined in on when they thought they could get segregation back by backing capital's ability to smuggle discrimination under the skirts of its property interests.

When you look at the White Flight phenomenon and correlate it to the widespread disappearance of public 3rd places, When you notice that state colleges and universities lost funding and started hiking tuition shortly after desegregation meant black and brown people could attend them, it sure looks like Americans were faced with the decision to have desegregated public wealth or no public wealth, they chose the latter

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 8 months ago

How do you live in Louisiana and not realize your government hates you

[–] [email protected] 19 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Please, ban it. I dare you. When other states introduce UBI, watch people across the political spectrum leave for greener pastures.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Except for the poor, who don't have the money to move, and who need it the most.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 8 months ago

Why people are fighting the unlimited inheritance right heirs have: 'Is money a birthright now?'

[–] [email protected] 12 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

They do realize all that UBI eventually filters up to their capitalist overlords.

They are not that dumb. (Tuberville nonwithstanding)

They just like to fuel the culture wars, and to divide and conquer.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago

The real reason they oppose it (and other safety net things, like unemployment pay and health care that's not tied to a job) is that they don't want a mobile workforce that can easily quit or unionise if abused.

The power dynamics between employees and employers would shift dramatically if employees knew they could just stay home and still get a few $k to fall back on.

Heck, even the small stimulus checks during the pandemic had a huge effect like that that is still shaking out as increased union activity.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


In the past year, Arizona, Iowa, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin legislators have introduced bills to ban income programs, arguing they are too costly and could make participants too reliant on the government.

GOP Rep. Lupe Diaz, who authored the bill, specifically attacked a 2022 Phoenix program that gave $1,000 to 1,000 low-income families each month for a year, pulling from federal relief funds.

The Arizona news comes shortly after Iowa GOP state Rep. Steve Holt introduced a bill banning basic-income programs, which he called "socialism on steroids" at a recent hearing.

GBI programs "undercut the dignity in earning a dollar, and they're a one-way ticket to government dependency," Republican state Sen. John Wiik, the bill's sponsor, said at a February committee meeting.

Bettencourt noted that Uplift Harris, which received over 48,000 applications within the first three days, could violate a section of the Texas constitution stating the legislature cannot give counties the authority to grant public money for individual aid.

Ivanna Neri, senior director of partnerships at UpTogether, which partnered with Austin for the pilot, told BI that attempts to ban basic-income projects don't often consider that these programs could have long-term impacts on wealth inequality and could power the economy.


The original article contains 1,242 words, the summary contains 202 words. Saved 84%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Of course it is. But only if you have rich parents.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago

This reminds me of arguing with a coworker once. I was saying we essentially have basic income for the wealthy. If you have a million dollars, you can turn that into ~$45k year with just high yield savings accounts. No risk. It's insured.

He was like, "But they're taking risks with their money so that's not the same." I was like, "No risk. It's insured."

He was like, "But that money is being used on stuff. The bank invests it to start businesses." I was like, "If you just give money to poor people, they will spend it, and support businesses, and in better ways." But then we had to stop talking about it because we were at a work event. I think he started to reject the premise that poor people buying groceries is better for the economy than a bank investing in Snapcat (it's snapchat, for cats!), or whatever.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago (4 children)

UBI will ultimately end up in the pockets of landlords, shareholders and offshore wealth funds anyway. Sort out the inequality first, then do it.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I think that's a misconception. UBI is not free money for all. There will not be appreciably more money sloshing around.

Taxation will be balanced around the average earner giving back the same amount of money in tax as they get in UBI.

People below average will be better off. People above average will be worse off. People way up in the 0.01% will be considerably worse off.

Guess which of those groups keeps inventing new reasons why UBI won't work.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 8 months ago (4 children)

The point of UBI isn't to sit in the pockets of the working class. It's to properly stimulate the economy while giving the working class spending money. It's meant to be spent, meant to go up the chain.

The biggest problem right now is non competitive markets that we have to pay into like housing, communications, utilities, and groceries. We need to get The trust busting hammer out. Competitive markets keep prices low. And for markets that can't be competitive, well they shouldn't be markets, they should be government agencies.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago (1 children)

UBI also addresses the welfare chasm. In many cases, people on welfare who want to work can't, because working means they're ineligible for welfare but their income is less than what they make on welfare. It's a sort of trap that keeps many people in the welfare system.

UBI fills the gap, and allows people who want to work, but who are unable to work full time, or are unskilled and are qualified for only the lowest paying, entry-level jobs, to take that work, build skills and experience, and pull themselves up out of the welfare system.

UBI often assumes that it replaces welfare as we know it, but you'd get the same benefit if the bar for disqualifying welfare was higher, s.t. people could still claim welfare while working, until they reached some more sustainable income level.

It's not the main goal is UBI, but UBI would address this one very real issue we have with the current welfare system.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago

Social security for all!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Iowa has been dealing with automation and outsourcing problems for a long time. I’m surprised that the farming families aren’t asking for UBI. Considering how farming subsidies have been in place for decades it wouldn’t even be a big stretch.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago

The alternative is "You can't afford to live? Then die." Or arguably worse, "Here, we'll give you a pittance so that you don't actually die, at least not immediately, but your life will be brutish and short, and treat you as though you're beholden to us."

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