Oh, if Americans love anything it's a free handout. And then complain about immigration but won't actually get off their asses and work.
And the two joke political parties will say whatever they think the voters want to hear just to stay/get in office. Even though the Dems would be fundamentally the side to want UBI, if it was working to sway voters, the GOP would jump on board real quick. I don't trust either side. And ever since the 60's, they've done nothing but polarize every issue, driving a stake between the people. You can't be moderate about anything anymore. Which is by design, because as long as we're fighting ourselves, we're not paying attention to all the BS they're doing behind the scenes.
I think the recent election of Milei in Argentina is very interesting. Whether you like him or not isn't my point. My thought about it is this. The people of Argentina were finally so fed up with the corruption in their government that they voted for a 3rd party candidate because he brought a fresh approach, that people on both sides wanted to hear.
In the US, we have an election coming next year, and both parties are back at it, more of the same, exhaustingly stale arguments and messages. I'm not saying the same could happen in the US (yet), but don't be surprised if an independent candidate, like RFK Jr, steals a lot of votes from
both sides. Not saying he'll win. Real change happens one funeral at a time. I'm just saying it'll be one of the first signs of how many people in the US are getting fed up with their government, just like the people of Argentina.
As for the robots, they've been replacing humans for a century. Just because these new ones will be more capable of more tasks doesn't change what's already been happening. AI is creating just as many jobs as it replaces. The same thing happened with every other innovation in history. Humans will adapt like they always have. We're not going to wake up in a year and all of the sudden robots are everywhere. It happens over time, enough time for people to adapt.
The real problem is that the school systems and curriculums haven't been properly updated since the Industrial Age. They're still designed to spit out dumb employees. So few can actually think for themselves, problem solve, or even use common sense anymore. We've been devolving intellectually for decades. That's part of the reason we need robots in the first place! Employers can't even find competent workers anymore.
So, yes, from that perspective, those kind of people will be hurting for jobs. But I'm a fan of Darwin, and I consider what happens to them the natural order of things. Nature doesn't have feelings. The smarter, stronger, more adaptable, will survive. The rest are just taking up space, wasting our resources. Sorry, not sorry.
If UBI were such a great idea, why hasn't it been
successfully done anywhere else?
So many attempts, but none make it past the pilot phase. And those are just small groups. The real death sentence to these plans is when it's attempted at scale. No country can afford true UBI for everyone.
Norway, a welfare state. Kenya and other African nations, where most live in poverty. And now Whales. Good luck to you.
It's not a new idea. It's a rebranded Communism/Marxism hybrid. It only benefits those in power, because it hands them all the control.
But Democracies know it's not sustainable at scale long-term. Even dictators recognize it might be initially popular, but they'd quickly see it can't work, and their people would revolt.
Educate yourselves people! Focus your time on making yourself more adaptable, more valuable. Because that's who survives in the end.