Understanding Universal Basic Income | Susan Danziger | TEDxUniversityofRochester

[@siddheshpatwardhan4920]

Vote for Andrew Yang 2020

[@cyworld2707]

She's right. Universal Basic Income will allow people to sell their services, talents, crafts etc. to one another instead of having corporation hoard and accumulate all the wealth. People will have the option to be ethical, and moral to one another instead of being the cut throat corporate climber. People will be willing to pay their fair share of taxes on an honor system at times in appreciate for the government's help to give them an economic free life.

[@scottmialltablet]

Hopefully someone behind the scenes is analyzing what happened to the audio of this video to make sure the same mistakes aren't made again.

[@VeryWittyComment]

The mic level was too high and it caused clipping every time she raised her voice.

[@jgdooley2003]

A boom microphone would have been a better choice. The trick to handling a clip on mic is to make as little movement as possible as it picks up every rustle of clothing as well as the voice. Also the treble frequencies were too bright and bass too low, no warmth. Probably got rid of the sound engineer in the last job cuts.........

[@thecutestcuck7978]

The sound engineers are on Universal basic income. They will deal with it when the feel like it.

[@m.w.njoroge7438]

Her hair and/or jacket rubbing up on her microphone. They should have tested her out before her talk...

[@thecutestcuck7978]

What dp you expect for free?

[@lifechoices6643]

Those who support UBI probably know the pain of unemployment and destitution whereas those who oppose it have never faced such situations.

[@peterfessel9910]

If the speaker doesn't "understand" how it's going to work (6:00), then why is the title of the talk "Understanding Universal Income"?

[@jameswhite1910]

It won`t work. Why does a minority ever want to pay for the majority? This is just another way to promote Marxism: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs. ". Communism. And that just never works out.

[@michaelmajinlai]

Andrew Yang 2020! UBI 1000 a month

[@MikeEnderle]

TedX has been propagating this idea pretty hard lately. Worked in Cambodia, Germany (twice), USSR, Venezula. I'm game.

[@Seiaeka]

Worked in Canada in the 70s and as far as I can tell, the current Ontario test is working very well as well.

[@ChipKerr]

"...Worked in Canada in the 70s " They why did they stop?

[@Seiaeka]

Because the test was over.

[@ChipKerr]

".. the test" So there aren't any examples of this idea actually working for real?

[@Seiaeka]

You don't understand how evaluations of systems work, do you?

[@richardouvrier3078]

Yes, bring on the Michelangelos and Da Vinci's. UBI. It's investment.

[@gameerfreak411]

Andrew Yang brought me here.

[@scottmialltablet]

Something quite a few opponents of the UBI miss is how the majority of the money that would be given out in a UBI goes directly into the economy. 2 Trillion dollars that goes into buying food - from people who live in the same economy. Paying rent to people who live in the same economy. Paying sales taxes to the government that is overseeing that economy. It's not an expense - it's an investment. And even if UBI isn't the best answer, something like UBI will be necessary to keep our economies going in the West. For every job that is lost due to outsourcing, offshoring, automation and other forces, that is someone who can't buy food with that money. Or clothes. Or pay for a car, like gas and insurance. Or housing - they can't pay the current rent, so they leave their apartment, and there aren't enough people left to pay that same amount of rent for that apartment. So the landlord lowers the rent - and loses money. Money they don't have to spend on repairs and maintenance of the apartment, so there is less work for the trades, meaning less raw materials will be needed, so less people to mine, harvest or produce those raw materials... Etc. Maybe the UBI isn't the answer. But it points us to the question and the problem that we're going to have to solve, and perhaps solve very, very quickly.

[@t3ck3r]

This the best statement about UBI I've read so far.

[@plime97]

I first heard about UBI in the Precariat by Guy Standing. Long-term labour jobs are getting replaced by new 'mini-jobs' or short-term casual or part-time positions as technology and globalisation pressures displace people and require businesses to be more willing to hire and dismiss on a whim. This isn't just about helping those who people see as 'welfare bludgers' - this is about youth who need to undertake internships before jobs, people getting replaced by technology, people cycling through small jobs etc. It's social security for all. And, as you said, it boosts consumption for everyone involved. So much money lays dormant right now from those who save for the future, keeping it in case they can't secure an income in the future. And transfers of food stamps etc. do not allow people to use the money for what they need the most. This isn't economically infeasible; its precisely where Adam Smith would have wanted to see the world go.

[@ChipKerr]

"...how the majority of the money that would be given out in a UBI goes directly into the economy" Where is all that money coming from in the first place?

[@Priestofgoddess]

From there where all the money is going now and staying put? Or from where it gets wasted a lot like military in america? or from all the money saved by not needing anymore for stuff like job agencies.

[@ChipKerr]

"...rom there where all the money is going now" I didn't ask you about where it's going to, I asked you where is it coming from. Where is all this money that is going to be handed out coming from?

[@LetsLearnEconomic]

YANG 2020

[@elminster710]

Yang2020

[@familledelisle2086]

The funny thing about the argument "won't people stop working and sit at home all day and become lazy?" is that we already have UBI called "pensions" for the retired workers. If you know any retired person, you know that they don't have enough time in day to do everything they want to do. I do not know a lot of retired person sitting at home watching tv for 30 years waiting to die ;)

[@lukefrahn8538]

lets start with some universal basic sound recording standards...

[@justineverett720]

Job searching would be alot easier if you had a little money in your pocket. But its hard when you dont have any money at all

[@christophertyler4757]

There are currently many proponents of UBI. For example, the Dutch historian and economist, Rutger Bregman, author of Utopia for Realists. Also, candidate for U.S. President, Andrew Yang.

[@richardouvrier3078]

With carbon taxes, robot taxes, financial transaction taxes, redresses for history (even as a belated punishment for the GFC) and wealth confiscations, UBI should be $3000 pm.

[@nevergetsold5273]

i agreed if people who haved ubi will start doing business , but the BIG question is how many people who received ubi wants to be a employee ???? no one wants to be employee

[@tommy07robs]

True but if the UBI raises your income then it makes your employment more bearable. I think people forget most people in the past weren't workers. Never mind the fact many were either slaves or soldiers they were mostly all entrepreneurs. Herders, farmers, and artisans. So this concept of being an employee for most of the population is a modern phenomenon. By that nature companies having the impact on society they have now is modern as well.

[@writerinfact1768]

Not to bring a sour note to the conversation, but, living as I do on the outskirts of New York City, I feel compelled to point out that the numbers I've heard suggested for the UBI would definitely NOT cover all of my basic living expenses. In fact, $1000 a month wouldn't even cover rent, except that I live in low income housing - where, yes, the rent goes up every year, but will never go down, even when my income is cut by as much as 25%. Living near New York City also means that food tends to be more expensive than other places I have lived, despite cooking at home because there isn't enough money in the month to cover eating out, even as a special treat. Gas prices and car repair costs also add to the living costs, and public transportation doesn't go where and when needed when one is over 60 and makes frequent and regular trips to network medical specialists 20 miles or so up the road. Fortunately for me, I have no medical costs except for a prescription co-pay, but ... there isn't enough money in the budget to cover it. So I submit that food, clothing, and rent is insufficient for a basic living stipend, unless universal health care joins this universal basic income movement. The Declaration of Independence, after all, names "LIFE, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." I submit that, for life to be sustained, regardless of a guaranteed income, health care - not sick care - is also necessary. And for it to be genuine health care, we must loosen the stranglehold of the American Medical Association on what is considered to be "legitimate" medicine. Even at 60+, I would be thrilled to have the opportunity to add $1000 to my monthly income - provided the addition would not reduce or remove that existing income. It would enable me to live with dignity, and to, perhaps, fulfill at least some of the lifelong dreams that have been neglected for 50 years or so.

[@jobokidd]

Checkout the policies of Andrew Yang. He lays it out really well the case for UBI If I lost my job in NY and received UBI I’d move somewhere cheaper and nicer

[@nolan4339]

Jobs will always get created to eventually suck up unemployment. The problem is that the vast majority of these that replace industry are low paid service sector jobs, and in a society that continually increases the cost of living it means slaving away in order to scrape together the money that you need.

[@user-eh5wo8re3d]

automation will not slow down. many sectors that require a massive workforce will be replaced by systems that are easily replicated. ie self driving cars for transportation. Early version of this can be seen in shipping: back in the day you would need a crew of 14 men to man a small vessel. on huge ships we have today you sometimes need ven less than that while having increased the shipsize by 100x. and that is because of low level automation. think about what AI systems will do to the job market. no way as many new jobs will be created

[@lilyblossom1240]

1000 isn't enough. people are getting that amount now and can't even pay rent, eat, buy clothing....

[@Blatt.online]

You think increasing the amount to 10,000 for all will not increase the prices?? Leaving you back to square one??

[@Seiaeka]

I live quite well on a thousand dollars a month. This includes my rent and utilities, internet and phone. And I live in one of the most expensive cities in Canada. I'm always worried I wouldn't get enough from working--which pulls away from my learning as a full time student. If I didn't have to work, I would do much better in school. Sure, my costs of living are split with my room mate, but if you're careful, 1000$/month is actually quite sustainable. The idea of a UBI is to provide a baseline that isn't taken away as soon as you earn a dollar extra--unlike welfare. If you had a UBI of 1000$/month, you could work less and spend more time taking care of your kids. Earning money allows one to participate in society. A UBI would allow those that currently cannot earn--due to disability, automation, etc--to participate in society without fear of going into debt. It's not about giving people enough money to cover everything, but to cover enough to participate in society and improve themselves.

[@Blatt.online]

hahaha... your a funny guy, I wonder if they have economics in one of your modules "you could work less and spend more time taking care of your kids"... these are your words. Imagine people spending less time working (less time participating in the better good of society)... and spending more time shopping for their kids and themselves. Who is going to produce and sell the toys and toiletry for their kids if everyone is doing less work. And don't tell me machines because machines are made, maintained and run by man

[@davidval7188]

That is true. But it's not every where.

[@Syklonus]

@@Blatt.online You don't get it do you mate? You just don't get it. How about it's more time spent with your loved ones and doing things which actually matter rather than being a corporate drone for low wages and no stability?

[@fustian]

andrew yang 2020

[@netabaughman3079]

Thank you! A WOMAN! Thank you, thank you thank you xoxox could you please run for President?

[@siddheshpatwardhan4920]

Andrew Yang is running for president on the main message of UBI

[@drewmclean6058]

All very well, the benefits of UBI have the potential to be far-reaching - the reduction of poverty (and illness), welfare bill, income inequality, and so on. But, speaking as someone positive about UBI, neither Ms. Danziger or proponents of UBI can't answer the basic question of roles within society. While UBI affords people the space to pursue their passions, who will do the unpleasant, boring or 'invisible' jobs? I don't think I've heard people say that their lifelong passion is clean the drains, inspect and clean the sewers and dirty streets, or become administrators or civil servants. Would UBI change the nature of money itself? Also, what will happen to democracy? Will people want to become politicians? UBI may have further effects than just the organisation of labour. If basic needs are being met, will people vote, or want to? Perhaps democracy itself, will need to change from representative electoral democracy towards something like sortition. Until these and many other questions are broached, I cannot wholeheartedly support. If you move one lever in society, it's bound to have intentional, but also unintentional consequences, some of which may not be so easy to resolve.

[@TheCRancourt]

Some employers may have to offer higher wages or better yet change attitudes. Pilot projects during the 70's did not create labour shortages even in Dauphin Manitoba where everyone who wanted to participate could. (MINCOME) People still want more money than just a survival allowance. Why do unintended or unforseen consequences always have to be negative? Maybe a more communal and less about money society will come about where women marry for love and men getting acquainted ask 'what do you like' instead of 'what do you do' As for negative consequences rich people have always predicted disaster whenever anything is proposed that would benefit the rest of us and those predictions turn out to be false. Ending slavery for real instead of just pretending it would be no different.

[@iancraft7391]

Drew McLean if the basic income was say $1,000 per month and I wanted to buy a new car or boat I would be happy to clean toilets if the pay was attractive which is what it would have to be and should be. The normal rules of supply and demand would apply. I think UBI offers a good solution for the future.

[@siddheshpatwardhan4920]

Automation will finally become our friend

[@Syklonus]

Automation will take over those "invisible jobs", or there will ALWAYS be someone who just wants to occupy their time and will be glad of the extra cash. Remember, not everybody is the same and not everyone wants to become a poet or an artist. Some people like hard graft, except this time there will be a choice. Making people do a job becasue they have no choice is not a civilised society. Besides, a UBI may give some bright spark the time to invent a machine that will do the jobs for us.

[@arnoldripkin1]

We have UBI in the form of gov freebies on Indian reservations and poor areas all over the US. Seems to be working very well. Unless you live in one.

[@tommy07robs]

For people on reservations they're pretty much stuck on those reservations. For poor areas their poor areas. UBI will help those that lower middle class or middle class much more than the poor.

[@hillbillytarzan]

I understand it. I understand it creates more control for government and corporations. I can spew good points about the worst of ideas, but it doesn’t make it a good idea

[@michaelp.waller8834]

Most jobs have no paid vacations or paid sick days--it would help

[@summersnow7296]

Okay... let’s do some math. Let’s say we give a UBI of $2K to every soul in the US per month. That’s $24K per year. There are 325 million people in US. That works out to be $7.8 trillion, yes trillion with a T. Currently federal income tax revenue is slightly above $2T per year. Anyone believes US gov’t will be able to triple their tax revenue to fund UBI?

[@jameswhite1910]

And who just PAID those taxes?

[@smotretvseru]

why 2k? UBI can be 10$, 100$, 1000$, 10000$. And you counted only federal tax revenue. Per example you can receive 500$ from federal government and 100-1000 from state.

[@dolcebelcanto3626]

then add in the reduced cost from poverty reduction, the funding from other specific social programs that could be dissolved, and make sure the richest and corporations are actually taxed fairly. that'd add a whole lot more in there I think. not to mention if you start drawing from the US's oversized military budget too.

[@roseorphee9008]

Would this work for my business ?

[@venumV2]

Get this women a proper mic

[@b-borg8942]

Nice, I hope it will be one day big enough to sustain the living cost of a normal person or at least over the USD 10.00 per day required for people living in third world countries where the automatization will probably wipe out their entire economy based on cheap labour and lead to a humanitarian catastrophe for this 80% of the world population. However, thanks for the information you are sharing in your videos whos will be helpful for my future own project to provide a UBI based on cryptocurrencies.

[@frafor]

At t=374 ... No answer? Really? 40 years ago, fresh into college, I used to ask myself what would happen if all men decided from one day to the next to stop shaving. The industries that provide shaving gear would no longer be necessary. Stop right here! Do not force the shaving industry people to go to a new industry: simply, continue to pay them... but the money, where will it come from? It used to come from those willing to shave... OK. the money will not come from those who were shaving, but what about the goods and services the saving industry people consume? Everything will continue to be produced-at least before the laws of demand and supply kick in, laws governed by money flow-and yet the shaving industry people will have lost their right to such goods and services. This is a ZERO sum economy! But, is reality like that? No, it is not! It is the human paradigm adoption and sticking to it like it is impossible to design a new paradigm! If more money is printed, inflation will result, because those who were using a little of their money to buy shaving gear, will shift their spending from shaving gear to something else. But the shaving industry people's needs will still be produced by society. So, the important element in the equation is NOT money, but the real goods and services. If we stick, as a species, to more free time and less superfluous consumption, our basic needs-food, shelter, clothing-can be solved by 4% of the working hours being invested today. Yes, we need to redistribute WORKING HOURS, not money. If we increase the “needs” and add cameras and drones and cars and other fun things, think of those things as something can be shared. We do not use our cameras 100% of the time! We could use better cameras a little of the time, and those highly sophisticated cameras could be shared by those interested in the art of photography. Or the science of anything. We need to change the whole paradigm. We do not need to stick to the paradigm of work and work and work to consume the planets resources and the time to enjoy life. Our paradigm is way past its bed time... or rather grave time. We need to think outside the box.

[@NoWay1969]

Do people just post stuff w/o listening to it?

[@paulburger9904]

I'd like to see them automate engineering work :D

[@Seiaeka]

As a computer scientist, my job is to automate my job--which will be the last one to go. That is my aim. So, on behalf of all AI specialists everywhere; challenge accepted. :P

[@paulburger9904]

Seiaeka I commend you on your efforts. That would truly be utopia.

[@Priestofgoddess]

I'd like to see you make an engineer out of a truck driver.

[@Seiaeka]

Anyone can learn anything if they're dedicated enough.

[@Priestofgoddess]

Because everyone is equally smart?

[@markclark4986]

So if you hand out say $30,000 a year to every person in the USA, you don't think that will cause massive inflation? A giant pool of newly printed money floating around will have no bearing on prices? Businesses won't simply raise their prices to meet this new money supply because...reasons? Also, this sounds a lot like, "To each according to need, from each according to ability." Hmm, where have I heard that before?

[@Priestofgoddess]

It is not about increasing prices but about being able to sell much more.

[@VeryWittyComment]

The money to pay for it will be raised through taxes, not "printed".

[@dolcebelcanto3626]

Poverty already costs the country billions, plus more targeted social services could be dissolved and that funding could just be put toward a general benefit then

[@theroots3596]

Amen

[@jamesmdeluca]

Sorry, the audio quality is so poor that I cannot continue to listen.

[@aaronhenton6003]

I good place to start with a universal basic income is within the current surveillance economy. Corporations and the U.S. government have made the collection and disemination of our information, our precious moments, our lives into a trillion dollar industry. A market which we the people are incapable of tapping. By providing monetary reparation for data collected and subsequently utilized in any media, product, or research a viable income stream would be open to the people. This is especially important when taking into consideration the job market moving into the future and our capabilites of effective automation only increasing by the day. The current surveillance economy model is predicated on the exploitation of not just the American people but the people of the world. In closing they are conning us all for trillions of dollars a year and they have yet to make or amend the laws protecting us and our children from said exploitative practices. If said practices are to continue, a way for the people must be made so that we can survive in this shifting economic sphere.

[@fulton92503]

I think UBI would be a good replacement to welfare and SSI programs and help supplement low income Jobs the only problem is should there be an income Limit to it

[@TheCRancourt]

Most proposals are for an amount measured by government stats offices of low income or poverty threshold. It is to provide for food, clothing, shelter but not beer or vacations.

[@Seiaeka]

The problem with a limit is that it's no longer universal. In order for a basic income to be fair, it MUST be available to everyone. If you could opt-out, that would be fair. But you could always opt-in again to maintain that fairness. If you put a limit on how much you could earn before you lose the UBI in its totality, you end up with the same system we currently have. Restricting what people do with their UBI creates systemic idleness and dissatisfaction. (I've been there myself while once on welfare).

[@northamericaparty7249]

Give everyone a Bank of Canada credit/debit card and let them borrow, interest free, up to a monthly amount set by the local bank loan officer. Everyone will have to fill out a loan application .

[@dolcebelcanto3626]

there shouldn't be any sort of qualifier because that would negate the "universal" part of it rather, tax the richest their fair share, and any money they'd be receiving from UBI would likely be a drop compared to their contribution

[@saramoreno6575]

Universal Basic income is a WEF program. Nuff said

[@rjdrakon2492]

Except - all those saving cuts also cut jobs - so more income needed, increasing costs. This isn't cost effective. It only adds to the imbalance. So what kind of business model opens a business without any idea how costs are going to be met? Interesting idea - but until I see an idea of how to really pay for it, I can't get behind it. Just cutting immigration would mean fewer laborers available, thus fixing reduced job availability, Not say that is what we should do - but there may be simpler solutions to this. entrepreneurship doesn't require ubi - just better education. Instead of training students to be drones in a growth model economy, we cold teach them how to make their own money themselves.

[@jgdooley2003]

Who will pay the entrepreneurs if there is no money in the general marketplace?? How will entrepreneurs compete if only 1 or 2 % of people have all the money and have lines of desperate people lining up in their 100's to tender to supply services. This will be the ultimate race to the bottom. This was how dictatorships were formed.

[@rexblein3210]

More like $700 a month, because be damn sure you will be taxed on it.

[@michaelhall2138]

Corporate/ media resistance so maybe never.

[@johnimburgia4321]

I don't know about this broad, but $12000 a year isn't buying you food, clothing, and shelter.

[@jobokidd]

I know right. Most people couldn’t pay their bills with it. But it’s better than zero

[@jamesstevenson7725]

$1,000.00 per month is not enough

[@derekrank4572]

make it $2000 a month if your single and no kids..

[@daveklebt7732]

UBI is bait. If you don't know what bait is, ask your dad. If you run with the herd, you end up as a lamb chop.

[@mehjones8008]

UBI is fiction; distraction.

[@chodeshadar18]

Biblical prophecy is being actualized thru technology. Soon we will all be like the Jews; praying and studying scripture all day while the women and robots do all the work.

[@jml19221]

Why is she talking like she is adressing a 4th grade class?

[@thewolfman751]

$10,000 a year? You are an insane person

[@remixtapes9308]

I dont think so..

[@Byrd88561]

So she telling us to take welfare n not go to school for AI

[@infoexperts3344]

How would poor third world countries afford this?

[@jgdooley2003]

They are at a different stage of development. Most 3rd world countries are at subsistence level, growing crops and hand making things for their own use in very local groupings.Unemployment is only a problem in cities and will take decades for them to solve. This needs decades of education, training and society development to get to the stage that an effort can then be made to get onto world markets and make some real money to implement schemes like this. China is already thinking of encouraging people to go back into rural areas and live more self sufficient lives, the cities are overcrowded and unemployment, underemployment and poverty are rife in their cities. India has a similar problem but the caste system creates a tragic acceptance of dire poverty there. The short answer is that 3rd world countries will not be able to afford this in the near future but rich countries better help them to in order to avoid mass migration to the rich countries in an uncontrolled fashion.

[@louisefitzgerald4400]

info experts Americans would be expected to provide it to them.

[@andrewherman5010]

UBI: Communist redistribution. Next question...

[@venumV2]

UBI is not communist

[@greogebrewer9643]

it would work if there was no more inflation.

[@jameswhite1910]

Or waste, or loss, or greed, or desire... (it won`t work)

[@venumV2]

@@jameswhite1910 If UBI is from taxes it wont cause broad inflation, only specific items will rise due to supply and demand

[@bjabbott8717]

This is one of the stupidest, most tone deaf, dangerous ideas I've ever heard.

[@venumV2]

Why?