RE: Jobs for the Robots and Money for Everybody
I don't think trump mocked that disabled reporter's disability... he does weird hand gestures and voices when he mocks most people. It's kinda just his thing.
But more on point, I think basic income will sabotage market forces. As you stated, removing the need to work will stall out the economy. Reducing the need to work will make some people not work as hard or as much when compared to if they didn't have the assistance. I've seen this already; I used to have a minimum wage job, and we had people who would start but then immediately quit once they learned having an income would interfere with their foodstamps.
It's a complicated issue, and I don't have the answers. I appreciate your deep dive on this subject, it gave me a couple more things to think about.
Definitely a valid point. I guess the difference between food stamps and UBI as it is usually proposed is that working income would supplement UBI and not disqualify the recipient. But you are right in that it could be a crutch for the unmotivated, if administered in the wrong way and/or at the wrong monthly amount. Hopefully some of the current trials underway will provide some data to inform a path forward. Thanks for the comment!