UBI is a wonderful bandaid solution, probably the best bandaid solution that capitalism would ever consider offering, but it is ultimately just a bandaid. It would help with food insecurity, but would not do anything to directly address the reasons why people are denied food. It would help enable strikes by providing for striking workers, but would not directly address the abusive conditions which cause strikes. It would help cover the cost of housing, but would not prevent landlords from just raising rent to steal even more from tenants.
Its strength is giving people a foothold to demand more from. A population which can’t be dropped to absolute zero is harder to subjugate than a population that can have everything stolen from them on a capitalist’s whim. For this reason alone, I would vote for a democrat offering it because it represents actual and meaningful harm reduction.
Its weakness is indirect: America is the most propagandized nation on the planet. Getting people to actually use that foothold will be a challenge, and UBI alone won’t stop people from cheering on the capitalists driving them into poverty. I used to argue that people would riot if they got a $1,000 per month UBI and then landlords immediately raised rent by at least $1,000 per month. The response to covid has make that seem unlikely
UBI is a wonderful bandaid solution, probably the best bandaid solution that capitalism would ever consider offering, but it is ultimately just a bandaid. It would help with food insecurity, but would not do anything to directly address the reasons why people are denied food. It would help enable strikes by providing for striking workers, but would not directly address the abusive conditions which cause strikes. It would help cover the cost of housing, but would not prevent landlords from just raising rent to steal even more from tenants.
Its strength is giving people a foothold to demand more from. A population which can’t be dropped to absolute zero is harder to subjugate than a population that can have everything stolen from them on a capitalist’s whim. For this reason alone, I would vote for a democrat offering it because it represents actual and meaningful harm reduction.
Its weakness is indirect: America is the most propagandized nation on the planet. Getting people to actually use that foothold will be a challenge, and UBI alone won’t stop people from cheering on the capitalists driving them into poverty. I used to argue that people would riot if they got a $1,000 per month UBI and then landlords immediately raised rent by at least $1,000 per month. The response to covid has make that seem unlikely