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Universal Basic Income Controversy

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Most Politicians agree that with poverty increasing and technology improving, something has to be done to save the economy. One idea that has gained popularity is the proposal of a universal basic income. UBI is a proposed system that provides money or other aid to all citizens in the country. The idea is that all citizens will receive the same amount of money annually for doing nothing but living in order to reduce poverty and help people survive. There are many controversies in the universal basic income debate: politicians cannot decide what the basic income should be, if it could be achievable, and if it could truly benefit everyone. The first problem politicians face when looking into UBI is the question of what the basic income would …show more content…
There are many points of views and ideas of how an universal basic income economy would impact a country. Some fear people will demand more benefits after living with a UBI because humans focus on what they don't have instead of what they do (Harari). Those who support UBIs believe it will fight or end poverty with a simple solution; however, those against UBI argue it will make the situation worse (“The Universal Basic”). Jason Furman from the debate “The Universal Basic Income is the Safety Net of the Future” gives a great example of the opposing side. He compares the UBI system to a dollar stating, “it's really quite simple. If you give somebody a dollar, that dollar has to come from somewhere”(0:15:01-0:15:08). The most obvious place the money could come from is tax money; however, if the taxes increase to an extreme rate then the UBI money everyone is receiving goes right back into the Government’s pockets. “The Universal Basic Income is the safety net of the future”estimate that the cost would be about 1.8 trillion dollars a year, more than twice as much as the current cost of our social security. With many countries creating trials to test how the idea would work, it is only a matter of time before answers are found on where the money will come from without harming the fragile …show more content…
With new technology replacing jobs and layoffs occurring because of the unpredictable economy, poverty is increasing. A numerous amount of people see UBI as a safety net to rely on if a problem were to occur in their life. The UBI could also help many kinds of companies as it would allow them to shrink their largest expense: wages. The UBI would then essentially turn into a massive subsidization to large corporations, ensuring that they could drastically cut wage costs in order to save money and increase profits, which in turn would allow them to escape falling to the likely massive tax increases that would take effect after the enactment of the UBI. Today, the main reason large corporations haven’t gone fully or mostly automated is because of federal regulations preventing them from doing so in order to protect jobs. With the UBI in place, it is possible that the regulations could be abolished in order to allow companies to automate. An UBI serves more purpose than a safety blanket for people or grants for companies it is also a helpful aid to many as it could provide someone with enough to start a business, give workers an opportunity to avoid exploitative jobs, help students pay for college fees, or give recently released prisoners a chance (“The Universal Basic”, 0:10:20-0:10:38). Others, however, disagree as some critics argue UBI will waste money and

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