Mark Zuckerberg argues for Universal Basic Income

[Shadows]

The billionaire founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg spent his July 4th weekend in Alaska learning about fishing and local economics as part of his "Year of Travel Challenge." In Alaska, all residents get a yearly cash payment just for living in the state. The trip gave Zuckerberg yet another platform to lobby for universal basic income (UBI), as he did during his commencement address to Harvard in May.

Zuckerberg says the state's cash handout program "provides some good lessons for the rest of the country." The dividend averages $1000 (or more) per person. "This is a novel approach to basic income in a few ways. First, it's funded by natural resources rather than raising taxes. Second, it comes from conservative principles of smaller government, rather than progressive principles of a larger safety net," says Zuckerberg. "This shows basic income is a bipartisan idea."

"We should have a society that measures progress not just by economic metrics like GDP, but by how many of us have a role we find meaningful. We should explore ideas like universal basic income to give everyone a cushion to try new things," says Zuckerberg, while speaking at Harvard, from which he famously dropped out.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/05/mark-zuckerberg-supports-universal-basic-income-like-he-saw-in-alaska.html

[Coraxion]

I'd be hesitant to support universal basic income until we see how well it works (in Finland, they're testing it out).

[UncleSam]

I think that universal basic income is actually something a lot of Republicans could be talked into supporting so long as it was partially replacing other entitlements. The argument would basically go like:

'Look, you hate government waste and inefficiency, and tend to prefer that people do with their own money as they see fit. That's what this is! The government is trying to take the middle-man out of the equation - rather than having an agency dedicated to telling you where your tax dollars go, they will go directly towards helping those most in need. Plus, your family will see that check in the mail every (week / month / year) as well!'

It's funny because some of my most conservative friends / family members actually would vastly prefer if not openly advocate for universal basic income if it were meant as a stand-in for other entitlements. Basically, rather than saying the government will create massive infrastructure around health insurance (for example) that creates an enormous governmental bureaucracy, instead you say ok we will give every person 10,000 extra dollars and you can go out and buy health insurance if you so choose, with whatever plan works best for you and your family.

While I tend to be sympathetic to those views, I think that clearly a middle ground is required. Some people are not responsible enough to make sure the essentials are taken care of, so so you'd still need many of the essential governmental benefits no matter how much money you gave every single person (guaranteed public school funding for children and Medicaid being the two biggest ones). That being said, there's an undeniable appeal to simply saying 'the government will protect you, run the fire / police departments, and run schools but you will receive 60,000 dollars a year simply for existing in the United States and you have to figure out how to send your kids to school, pay for medical bills, and otherwise figure out how to live'.

I tend to oppose universal basic income if it is simply meant to be another add-on entitlement that we will simply raise taxes to pay for, however. It's a really interesting question and one that I think will become a big campaign issue in the coming years, since it is such a simple solution to so many problems and it is one that, depending on how it is implemented, is consistent with both (or rather, either) liberal and conservative principles.

[super6646]

How about he pays for it with his billions? People should work for an income, not expect it for doing nothing.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

How can we afford it when his company keeps dodging taxes?

Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin is definitely a tax cheating scumbag.