Andrew Yang, a presidential candidate in the Democratic party 2021, based most of his campaign around a single issue: universal basic income. He foretold the coming AI revolution, the next step of human progress, and the devastating effect it will have on the ability for humans to work. According to him, mankind will need to be provided a basic living expense in order to survive.
Yang’s campaign wasn’t successful, and UBI was further made into a partisan issue. This isn’t entirely Yang’s fault, of course. Politically speaking, we’re more divided today than we have been in a long time. I won’t venture to say that we’re nearing pre-Civil War levels of disagreement, but we’re a far cry from where we once were.
The problems surrounding us will only mount, and I would argue that a UBI of some form will be needed. I say this as a libertarian and a very fiscally conservative one at that. That means I believe the UBI shouldn’t be printed money, it should completely dissolve the current welfare system.
This is why Biden, with his plans for job guarantees, and many politicians on the right are stuck in their thinking and aren’t seeing the coming storm. I posit that UBI is the best way to get over the hurdles on the horizon without becoming socialist.
Universal Basic Income: What is It?
Before I go further, I should define what a UBI is. Universal basic income is nothing more than receiving a stipend from the government (or another entity) that should, in theory, cover at least the bare necessities of life. By making it universal, it means that this is money you would never lose, no matter how much money you make.
Universal basic income is a way of ensuring that massive amounts of people won’t find themselves in a financial crisis in the event of massive job loss or, as we’ve recently found out, a pandemic.
Proponents argue, citing the recent stimulus checks as an example, that implementing a UBI would be infinitely better, as inflation wouldn’t be a problem and you wouldn’t be relying on bills being passed over and over to act as a band-aid.
Why it’s Better Than a Job Guarantee
The problem with a job guarantee is that you’re still never going to employ everyone. The lives of people are messy and complicated; some have disabilities, some experience burnout at rates others don’t, and, let’s face it, not all jobs are going to pay you enough to live.
A job guarantee is a step up from where we are, but it isn’t a solution. This will especially be true as most unskilled jobs are simply phased out. Technology is moving forward, and you can’t undo it.
I recall an episode of Lassie where the Martins are considering buying a refrigerator. The iceman, if I remember right, laments that soon he’ll be out of a job as more and more people switch to refrigerators. It’s easy to feel sorry for the guy, but no one faults the Martins (including Lassie, who is at first mistrustful of the new contraption in the kitchen) for switching over in the end. After all, none of us today would want to wait for the iceman to bring us some ice to keep our food boxes cool.
There are a number of jobs that are on the verge of either going extinct or becoming smaller. I wrote an article about cultured meat some time ago, and ranchers are fearing that their ranches will become much smaller as we stop mass breeding livestock simply to be slaughtered. We must also take into consideration that the fossil fuel industry could be in jeopardy as more and more people seek an alternative, sustainable, and greener source of fuel.
On that note, electricity and fossil fuels themselves put earlier forms of energy out of business. Coal isn’t used quite as often anymore, and no one is going to slaughter whales to light their homes. They are obsolete, and for the better. Hopefully, the things that are harming the planet now will become obsolete one day, too.
Of course, this means that some jobs will be going the way of the dinosaurs, as they always shave. The difference is: will the people affected be able to find other good work and will the industries replacing them provide a comparable number of jobs to the oil industry?
A job guarantee is a great short-term fix, but it’s very possible that a lot of these jobs will be unnecessary and poor jobs for people to work.
What a UBI Could Do for People
Universal basic income could revolutionize the world. This is hardly a new idea, as it was even being tossed around in ancient Athens. This is an idea that would allow people to live dignified lives.
By giving people cash, no strings attached, the benefits to society and individuals would be enormous. 10% of families in the United States today experience food insecurity, which amounts to tens of thousands of people.
Welfare exists, but the qualifications for it can be difficult to hit, and the fear of losing it as a safety net keeps people from seeking employment. UBI is universal, meaning you don’t lose it if you find work. This means people can seek employment without fear of suddenly losing their safety net.
More people would be able to start businesses, seek higher education, save up for emergencies, stimulate the economy, vacation, and put money towards their children’s future.
What Happened to Old-Fashioned Hard Work?
This is a criticism hurled at the concept of a UBI that stems from people who view their own achievements in life as a credit to their hard work. Nothing is wrong with working hard, but we’re living in a time when hard work doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be making ends meet.
There’s a harmful stereotype that if people aren’t well off, they must be lazy. If only they would get a job, or two, and marry someone who works a job or two, they wouldn’t be wondering how the rent is going to be paid!
Many circumstances can lead to someone living below or hovering near the poverty line. Hard work won’t guarantee that you’ll be pulled out of it.
There’s a notion that by taking advantage of welfare or accepting a “handout”, your value as a person has decreased. We’re prejudiced against anyone who cannot make it on their own, stereotyping and devaluing those people. Being able to say, “I worked for my money,” is an accomplishment, but implementing a UBI doesn’t mean no one will be working to grow their income.
A UBI doesn’t mean you’ll be living in your own home, paying a mortgage, subscribing to all the services on the Internet, and texting on the latest smartphones. It means you won’t go hungry and that you could pay rent for a small apartment. You won’t be taking expensive vacations or driving brand new vehicles with a UBI alone; it just means that you won’t be starving and homeless.
Hard (or smart) work won’t be going away. Without work, you’ll be making ends meet if you live a minimalist lifestyle and that’s it. By working, you can still live in a large house and drive a nice car and be able to tell people you earned it.
Won’t Some People Just Not Work?
I’m sure some people would decide not to work. Maybe we’ll see a surge in stay-at-home wives or househusbands, only one spouse working a formal job while the other stays home. Of course, there will always be the truly lazy (or extremely minimalist hippie) types who would refuse to work.
So, yes, some people would just not work, but that isn’t bad. You can look down your nose and silently or openly judge them all you want, but taking away the basic income from such people would likely not affect those numbers much.
Data from pilot programs show that employment actually rises.
As a Libertarian, Don’t You Think This Would Make People Dependent Upon Government?
Welfare already does that! The problem that I and many other libertarians have with welfare isn’t just that people are relying on the government to take care of them, but because of the enormous cost.
The welfare system is plagued with red tape that requires manpower and resources to navigate and determine who meets the requirements. The sheer number of programs sucks taxpayers dry, and the fear of losing the safety net means people who wind up on welfare sometimes have a tendency to stay there.
This alone means that welfare makes people dependent upon the government, and it’s a fiscal nightmare.
If UBI replaces the welfare system and you implement a VAT tax, you could give a stipend to every last American and not see a huge increase in inflation. It would be far more streamlined, and because you don’t lose it, you don’t get trapped the way welfare traps you.
This libertarian would also like to note that an ability to opt out of receiving the stipend would mean you could easily live free of government. I’d also like to note that by making the cash available for you to use however you see fit, the government isn’t going to be interfering in your life the way it does with welfare.
UBI is on the table in several countries, and I hope it comes to the USA as well.
Excellent article!
Every word in it rings true, and I agree with just about everything you said. Though, I would have also mentioned seasonal work: UBI would make it possible. There's a big need for seasonal workers in agriculture (e.g. people temporarily working as farm hands during planting season, or harvesting season for certain plants), and because full-time employment is a de facto requirement for a livable wage in much of the developed world, this leaves farmers relying on guest workers from third world countries. With UBI, farmers would be able to rely on native workforce without any worries.