Butts In the Seats: I have been reading and writing about Basic Guaranteed Income programs for quite a number of years. I was interested to see that Ireland decided to make their Basic Artist Income program permanent.
But I am also cautiously optimistic based on information I read back in August suggesting that basic guaranteed income programs aren’t as successful at achieving their goals as they may seem.
2 comments:
This is honestly the same garbage argument that libertarians have been using for years to justify not redistributing wealth to people, that it would some how not solve the problem of income inequality, because then people would work less hard, yet studies have shown for years that just because people have money doesn't mean they won't work more. I mean look at the wealthy in any other country. They literally have enough money to end homelessness in the United States but they will still continue to work for more. In theory if people have infinite money wouldn't they stop working? Clearly not, and the craziest part is that art is such a valuable job sector, why wouldn't you want your source of entertainment in a mundane liberal market economy to be prioritized, your 9-5 workers would suddenly get sad because they have nothing to spend their money on that they make, this is such a laughable argument, money in people's pockets will make lives easier, and it will make people work harder.
I don’t think this article makes much sense and its also very poorly argued. Maybe the reason people don’t report an increase in overall happiness is because our society has projected the illusion that having money creates happiness, but actually there are so many other societal factors that can decrease happiness and wellbeing. Having the bare minimum of enough to live on is only a minimum step. And, perhaps, if your artists are trending to be unhappy and unwell, this is reflective of how the rest of the members of society are being treated. Despite this author mentioning “cherry picking” the good outcomes of guaranteed income programs, I think this author is cherry picking one single statistic that is really a non-sequitor to try and discount guaranteed income programs and justify not redistributing wealth. This author also buys into the idea that work automatically results in wealth, when this is untrue given societal circumstances.
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