Eric, Many wise words. I agree with a slow implementation but I thing before any implementation can take place we need to have a dramatic change of attitude. An understanding of that borders are no good protection is an insight we need to acquire. With our modern technology the world gets smaller and smaller and to believe that borders protect is an illusion. Borders are just arbitrary obstacles. Even here implementation can be slow but the attitude should be refreshed quickly.
Best Regards , Lennart Thornros lenn...@thornros.com +1 916 436 1899 Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe and enthusiastically act upon, must inevitably come to pass. (PJM) On Mon, Feb 15, 2016 at 1:23 PM, Eric Walker <eric.wal...@gmail.com> wrote: > I agree that the argument that the threat of starvation and economic > marginalization can be useful for motivating people to do something with > their lives is unpersuasive now, if it ever was persuasive. I don't think > people should face starvation, or even go without dental care, as a result > of being lazy and unambitious, let alone mentally ill, disabled or > physically handicapped. I am hopeful that this awareness is starting to > become widespread, even if it will be a while (hundreds of years?) before > something practical is done with it. > > As the conditions during the industrial revolution show, Anglo-Saxon > countries in general, and the US in particular, have an above average level > of tolerance for the suffering of their own people. So I would not > necessarily bet money on anything happening anytime soon in the US. It > seems just as likely that we could let things get pretty dystopian. > > What is also worrisome is what will happen to political power with > narrowing economic opportunity. You cannot even pretend to have a level > playing field, with equal opportunity for all, when economic > marginalization begins to affect a large number of young people, as well as > a significant portion of the adult population, as structural changes > gradually transform the present economy into something we can only guess > at. With profits currently accruing to a small portion of the total > population, politics will also go in an unknown direction, no doubt for the > worse. > > If a basic income can help with a little of this, I think we should try > some small experiments to test it out over several years. I'm for > piecemeal, incremental change, carried out a little at a time. If the > experiments go well, I would not mind if a number of present-day welfare > programs, such as food stamps and workers' comp, were gradually > consolidated into it. We should not let ideology get in the way of this > kind of experiment. But at any rate economies are things that are > supported and controlled by societies, and they are free to modify the > rules however they want. The only thing limiting this beyond political will > are any unintended consequences that follow, which is part of the reason > you make changes in small batches rather than in one go. > > Eric > >
