Aww the minnow is holding a CONTEST! šµš
Photo courtesy of Pexels
Hi Fam,
So I was at a party a couple of weeks ago, and it was great. Met a lot of interesting people, wasn't too loud or too quiet, awesome music and beautiful wines. Even the conversation, carried out in different clusters throughout the house, was interesting, light but often informative. I eventually made my way across the room and sunk deep into my host's comfy leather armchair right by window enjoying the breeze as I nursed my second (third?) glass of shiraz.
Everything was going well, that is, until one of the clusters began to debate the benefits, if any, to UBI, or Universal Basic Income. I couldn't quite tell who was arguing what point, all I could make out were words like "equality", "great", "stupid", etc.
I turned a little more towards the window, the breeze was amazing! I closed my eyes for what must have been less than a second before hearing my friend Amy's voice, "Kira, what do you think about UBI?" I bet you can imagine her tone.
I kind of froze and then started to fidget, I didn't want to talk about this, not now, I was enjoying myself! I squeezed the carpet between my toes and played with my glass of shiraz, which I almost spilled by the way.
Then reluctantly chirped, "Socialism is awesome, as long as you don't run out of rich people to take money from, amirite?" I let out a laugh, nearly spilling my wine again.
Now, you know in those movie trailers (rom-coms come to mind) where they use that record scratch sound effect for crappy comedic effect? Like "I'm pregnant!?" scccccrrrrrtttccchhhd - insert James Brown's "I feel good" here.
You get the idea, it was like that - scccccrrrrrtttccchhhd and then the cluster raced over to my comfy seat to engage me on what I just said. Without dragging this post out forever, we all agreed to disagree.
Still, I kept thinking about it. Most recently I come from a banking background so maybe I'm not creative enough to figure how exactly it would work. Then yesterday I came across the @steembasicincome blog as well as a post by @flyyingkiwi that inspired the hell out of me, you can find it here.
So, along those lines, I'd like to hold modest contest of my own.
A sort of "Babby's First Contest", if you will.
I have 2 Steem, and so i'll sponsor two people at 1 Steem each.
Like I said, it's modest, but if this gets okay engagement I'll increase the Steem and number of people sponsored each time I hold a contest, and will continue doing so for as long as there's interest and engagement, I really want this to work!
Your Challenge:
Easy. Reply to this post as to why you are in favor of or against UBI.
It doesn't matter to me, I just want to know as much as I can.
Tell me what you think, don't you dare be shy!
I'll announce the winners on Friday, May 18th
And by the way, if you want to know how to sponsor someone/enrol in Steem Basic Income, please read this insightful post here.
Thanks so much for reading this and I'm really looking forward to hearing from you!
Kira š
Personally, I am on the side of UBI. With the growing inequality and automation in the world, the current wage-based system is busy failing. I think that UBI will be a good replacement for it.
I believe that people deserve to stay alive, and in modern society you need money for that, so providing UBI also provides a safety net for people.
I think that UBI will allow the billions that are currently living below the poverty line a chance to actually make something of their lives, rather than struggling just to survive.
Will there be those that will just take the money and waste it, or those that will abuse the system? I am 100% sure of it... And it does not matter. Those that waste the money have at least had the chance to do something good with it, and I think that those that take advantage of the system will be in a minority.
I am an advocate of basic income programs, insofar as they can be designed in a sustainable fashion. I do have some concerns about government-run programs, as it centralizes and consolidates control and creates additional dependencies on centralized institutions.
I'd love to know more about this, @josephsavage
It's the sustainable design minus government control that really interests me since I struggled at first to conceive it this way. Do you happen to have any links I could take a look at?
I'm a big fan of resource-driven programs like Alaska Permanent Fund or First Nation casino funds.
In the crypto space there is @mannacurrency and @steembasicincome which follow different funding models but are both independent of government centralization.
Awesome I started following both a couple of days ago. Apparently, Manna used to be Grantcoin. Learning something new every day.
Keep that up and someday you'll be one of the smartest people here.
There are worse things in the world to be haha
One pro is UBI reduces poverty and income inequality. This results in increased happiness and improves health. Lets use the Alaska Permanent Fund (AFP) which was created in 1976. This UBI is funded by oil which provides dividends to permanent residents of the state. In 1981, Alaska was ranked 30 out of 50 states on income inequality; by 2015, the state had jumped to number two. Alaska's improvement in income equality is largely attributed to the implementation of its UBI program.
Thanks for this @cryptictruth,
Oh yes I remember reading the Alaska case study awhile back, really interesting stuff. I think that poverty reduction is a good thing all around but income inequality, at least where I've lived, imo is generally the result of different choices people make.
For example in another post I made, I mentioned that I grew up very poor, and even though it took me a very long time, I struggled my way out of it through education, business, taking risks, etc.
I don't expect that someone who hasn't done those things should have an equal income.
Nor did I expect income equality for myself without doing what I needed to do to change my situation.
Or do I have it all wrong? Maybe something I'm not seeing?
I agree, personal responsibility is a large part of making UBI successful. If people donāt use the resources they are given appropriately they will not change their situation. I think this factor is a major con to UBI. People canāt be trusted to not take advantage of the system.
True, maybe crypto like @steem or @mannacurrency without central control like
@josephsavage said may well be a step in the right direction when considering design/implementation
Iām a huge supporter of decentralization from government backed programs. I definitely think cryptos are the first step in the right direction.
I would prefer
We haven't had true capitalism for over a century. What we have now is crony capitalism where a few Oligarchs are able to control competition through regulations implemented by the governments they control.
re: Alaska Oil - How is it that a few big oil companies profit from the oil reserves there? Because these are the Oligarchs mentioned before who control government. Not just our government but world government. I explain in my recent post how they have woven a web of deceit that encompasses the entire world. All oil and natural gas reserves should be nationalized. This is one place where I don't see anyone but a government could do it.
Thanks so much for this,
Absolutely agree, sometimes I think about what things would be like if crony capitalism had never come to exist.
For sure. Less government, more free enterprise, competition, innovation is win/win.
Indeed, I know a lot of people who would give more if they could. I've been kicking the idea of starting a charity around myself.
Read your post, it's time indeed
UBI has its benefits. It reduces poverty and alleviates some stress form lower class families. kids can actually stay in school instead of being forced to work. However something like @steembasicincome does have its down sides, whales will still earn more than minnows because they can buy more shares and such but all in all UBI is a good idea
Absolutely, education is a great aspect.
Is it a downside that whales will be able to buy more shares? I'm positive you'll be one sometime soon yourself š
I think itās a downside simply due to how everyone get a equal percent of the pool votes so whales with more shares will take up more of it. Nothing is perfect though so just gotta work on getting more shares.