Universal Basic Income (UBI) Might Be Inevitable
If things keep going as they are the question may not be if but when.
We are in the midst of a technological explosion. As our technology grows we are slowly making people obsolete. A large portion of our jobs will soon be replaced by machinery and robots.
With advancements in driverless cars we’re staring down the barrel of losing somewhere on the order of 4 million truck driver jobs. 30% of malls will close in the next 3 to 4 years as a result of companies like Amazon. Really, the scenarios where we are phasing humans out is simply increasing year by year.
I’ll take a moment and explain what Universal Basic Income is. The general concept is the idea of the government giving people 18 or older a basic “salary” every month to live on. In America 1000 dollars a month is the generally cited number that would be given. This money would be yours to do with whatever you wanted.
An argument against what might be considered fear mongering is that as we lose jobs we often find new jobs in different places. Part of the problem with that argument is that we’re getting rid of untrained labor positions. While we MAY find jobs to somewhat fill in the gaps these jobs often require higher education. Precisely the thing that many people who are being displaced don’t have.
