Is Universal Basic Income the answer?

[GreekOrthodox]

As for the Great Resignation from Forbes:
Proof was the massive 4.3 million Americans leaving their jobs this past August—a record since records began. But is it true?

Those numbers sound big, but represent 3% of the workforce, not 40%. The dream hasn’t yet the headed for the door. Instead, recent research from Goldman Sachs’ economists offers a completely different take on the now hotly debated tale of spiritual awakening. Fully two-thirds of the folks leaving jobs this past August weren’t actually ‘quitting.’ They were retiring. One million were ‘normal’ retirements, an additional 1.5 million opted for early retirement. That’s a whole different story.

Is The ‘Great Resignation’ Actually A Mass Retirement?

 

[Innsmuthbride]

What we need is to round up the people that will not work and put them and their children in work camps to make sure they either pull their weight in society or face punishment or death if they do not comply.

This way every one works for their food. Don't comply with work orders no food. Do it too many times the children get to see their lazy mother shot in the fields.

Maybe the children will learn to be hard working obedient members of society.

 

[trophy33]

10% of Americans were in the danger of becoming homeless, before COVID.

 

[trophy33]

.

 

[GreekOrthodox]

What we need is to round up the people that will not work and put them and their children in work camps to make sure they either pull their weight in society or face punishment or death if they do not comply.

This way every one works for their food. Don't comply with work orders no food. Do it too many times the children get to see their lazy mother shot in the fields.

Maybe the children will learn to be hard working obedient members of society.

Ahhh, is that Order Sixty-seven?

 

[RocksInMyHead]

As for the Great Resignation from Forbes:
Proof was the massive 4.3 million Americans leaving their jobs this past August—a record since records began. But is it true?

Those numbers sound big, but represent 3% of the workforce, not 40%. The dream hasn’t yet the headed for the door. Instead, recent research from Goldman Sachs’ economists offers a completely different take on the now hotly debated tale of spiritual awakening. Fully two-thirds of the folks leaving jobs this past August weren’t actually ‘quitting.’ They were retiring. One million were ‘normal’ retirements, an additional 1.5 million opted for early retirement. That’s a whole different story.

Is The ‘Great Resignation’ Actually A Mass Retirement?

Yeah, this is something that's often overlooked. My workplace even offered buyouts ($1000 per year of service, iirc) to encourage employees to retire. Quite a few people with 20+ years of service who were already fully vested in their pensions took the deal.

 

[Innsmuthbride]

Ahhh, is that Order Sixty-seven?

No this is Order 68, but whos counting?
Not me I'm too busy slaying Sith across the galaxy

 

[GreekOrthodox]

Yeah, this is something that's often overlooked. My workplace even offered buyouts ($1000 per year of service, iirc) to encourage employees to retire. Quite a few people with 20+ years of service who were already fully vested in their pensions took the deal.

My hospital is losing 4 department chiefs including one at the executive level in the next month. As a GenXer, I'm a bit hopeful that these roles will get filled by my generation as these are all folks in the boomer generation and honestly, they have held up a lot of progress because they really couldnt be bothered to do new things.

 

[MorkandMindy]

How do people get by without government aid?
- by working as hard as possible.
...
With no government help and paying no taxes, my net income for the year would have been -32,000 dollars.

I left out food, heating, phone, and transport.

Including those costs but omitting medical costs, I actually turned an overall profit.

I would have turned a small profit that year in any advanced country other than the US. The problem is the US has a for-profit healthcare system.

Getting government help with health care costs is not for most people a benefit but a necessity.

Profit-making off the healthcare system doubles our healthcare costs.

(and no, I don't know why Elizabeth Warren was claiming single-payer would cost more)

 

[MorkandMindy]

Which tells us how poorly are some job positions paid. Or that some people simply do not value money as much as others and value their free time more.

Then why do we need all this universal income if people are able to live okay right now? Apparently they don't need all that money after all.

According to her info Myst33 lives in the Netherlands which has universal healthcare and a more human-centered economy. It is totally different from the US where healthcare costs are astronomical.

 

[trophy33]

According to her info Myst33 lives in the Netherlands which has universal healthcare and a more human-centered economy. It is totally different from the US where healthcare costs are astronomical.

I am "he", but you are right that the EU countries are (perhaps all) social democracies.

That means the freedoms of democracy, but with the socialized basic services. The market is liberal and free, but with few exceptions (health, education, social securities like retirements, in some countries also rents, energy and water costs are regulated).

 

[MorkandMindy]

Hi Myst33, I've spent more than half my life outside the US, though only in England which isn't as different as the Netherlands is, but it does allow me to make some comparisons.

In school in the US, we were taught a lot of things I have since found were entirely wrong. Add in the misinformation from the billionaire-owned media and most people in the US have beliefs that are very different from what you are sharing.

Do continue sharing even though it seems some have different beliefs; I certainly do benefit from your insight.

 

[trophy33]

Hi Myst33, I've spent more than half my life outside the US, though only in England which isn't as different as the Netherlands is, but it does allow me to make some comparisons.

In school in the US, we were taught a lot of things I have since found were entirely wrong. Add in the misinformation from the billionaire-owned media and most people in the US have beliefs that are very different from what you are sharing.

Do continue sharing even though it seems some have different beliefs; I certainly do benefit from your insight.

To me, just the information that 60% of Americans are living from paycheck to paycheck, having no reserves, indicates that something is broken in the system.

When we add to that that they have no social securities like free education/medical expenses, it seems to be quite serious.

 

[Innsmuthbride]

It is working as intended. Keep the working poor desperate. Too desperate to endanger the wealth and comfort of the middle class and wealthy.

 

[MorkandMindy]

It is working as intended. Keep the working poor desperate. Too desperate to endanger the wealth and comfort of the middle class and wealthy.

I've heard the excuses about 'unintended consequences' so many times now that I know that what happens was what was intended to happen.

For example, read the basis of neoliberalism, and it was clearly intended to move money from the country as a whole up to the owning class. And most people I meet here in the US do not know what type of economy we have or even which stage of the Industrial Revolution we are in. It's all about keeping people misinformed and filled with chatter about pointless details. Oh, and with lame excuses.

 

[trophy33]

It is working as intended. Keep the working poor desperate. Too desperate to endanger the wealth and comfort of the middle class and wealthy.

Is there actually a significant middle class in todays America?

 

[Innsmuthbride]

Is there actually a significant middle class in todays America?

No there is not. and that is the point. The wealthy desire to rule over a vast pool of people too desperate and busy fighting with each other over the crumbs that they toss that they are easy prey for the wealthy to enslave.
They will not truly be content untill the working poor are so desperate that they are willing to sell themselves into slavery just to survive.

 

[rjs330]

It seems that the US economy is based upon the poor ones paying the whole system while the rich ones having the lowest or 0 taxes (or even negative).

So, the "american dream" is to work so hard (or to come with some briliant idea) that one gets rich and gets out of the working class that pays everything.

It produces a lot of stress, fears, overworked and unhealthy people and few rich on the top who are above the system and who influence the system to their even higher benefit and to hinder the redistribution of their wealth.

This is so bogus. The wealthy pay the vast majority of taxes. The poor pay nothing or what they do pay they get it all back and often then some. Just about 50% of Americans pay no taxes. And you know what? It's not the rich.

 

[98cwitr]

Intent
UBI transfers money saved by automation to production workers replaced by automation.

Source
It is a tax levied on production inside the country and manufactured goods imported into the country, so it can not be avoided by automating outside the country.

Beneficiaries
It is currently proposed as 1,000 dollars per month to every citizen or resident in the US irrespective of other income or circumstances.

Never. Will just result in inflation and things becoming more expensive for everyone. We're already seeing that now with the "15/hr" folks now claiming that's not enough. Pump money into an economy without that being backed by labor, you get inflation. This is ECON101.

It's been tried. It failed. No need thing think it can or would work. Those that really push it either want to see the economy fail, or have very little understanding on what money actually is and how it achieves having value.

 

[trophy33]

This is so bogus. The wealthy pay the vast majority of taxes. The poor pay nothing or what they do pay they get it all back and often then some. Just about 50% of Americans pay no taxes. And you know what? It's not the rich.

I stand corrected. The top 20% pays the majority of taxes. Its also logical, regarding how much wealth they own compared to the rest 80% of Americans.

They pay more in the total amount, because they have so much more in the total wealth.