this post was submitted on 09 Jan 2024
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The best ones are thoughts that many people can relate to and they find something funny or interesting in regular stuff.

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Those seem incompatible to me.

(UBI means Universal Basic Income, giving everyone a basic income, for free)

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[–] [email protected] 54 points 8 months ago (1 children)

He's assuming infinite elasticity, which isn't how prices work in real life.

The typical version of this argument is that the people who are being taxed in the first place are the ones increasing rents. In which case taxes can then be increased until the desired equilibrium is achieved.

That's not to say we couldn't also provide a basic safety net like he describes. But that raises the question of why UBI should stop there. If our economy can generate a surplus, then why shouldn't all humans sharing their slice of the Earth get it?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Nah, they just can't get off unless they're using the tears of the oppressed as lube.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Man, I wish Henry George could've convinced Karl Marx of that.