Douglas Rushkoff's sobering view of Universal Basic Income

[gracchus]

Rushkoff seems to be envisioning the kind of “neoliberal UBI” I’ve described elsewhere on this site. Sadly, this is just about the only kind of UBI that will be put in place in the U.S. as long as movement conservatives and Libertarians have a say.

Making sense of Basic Income proposals

In threads like these I like to envision the broken neoliberal implementation of UBI we’ll see in the U.S. (because if libertarians and conservatives are now being forced to talk about it, it’s inevitable): The UBI will be funded initially by eliminating all other welfare programmes, including a phase-out of Social Security as the Boomers die off. The monthly stipend will be around a base $1600 a month per citizen, adjusted for local cost of living. Minors get a reduced stipend (maybe 30% …