Jobs and human employment are an increasingly archaic concept in an age where robotics, automation, technology and science are replacing the human component in the workplace at an ever increasing rate.

Time to move forward or be left behind.

Try thinking of a UBI as freedom to choose who to spend the limited time life accords us.

that is because you are stuck in the past and are still tied to the worn out old premise of exchanging our bodies/labour for wages and an economic system that has no more relevance than we accord it. .

A UBI is about personal freedom, the freedom to choose how to spend the limited time we have in this life without worrying about destitution and homelessness and a job/career that insists you place it ahead of family, community and self and any other endeavour a person finds meaning and purpose in. .

agreed, money is only a medium of exchange and local green dollars, credit/debit cards and bitcoins are but a few of the variations on that theme. Minimum wage is a stalking horse and never has a COLA - cost of living allowance - attached to it so them become useless very quickly as prices increase.

It also only addresses those who hold jobs and jobs are a disappearing premise in this modern age while there are a host of other things a person can be doing to create value for themselves and their communities which I have already mentioned above.

sigh, another advocate for that tired, old, increasingly out-dated exchange of labour for wages.

Jobs are an rapidly disappearing premise. It is high time to move forward. Nothing is static, everything is in transition, even the universe itself, and economic systems need to keep pace or be tossed aside.

an excellent point. The problem is not the amount of money required, but the current distribution and small minded view that a person's worth is defined solely by their bodies and how well they can exchange their labour for wages in a time when jobs are disappearing at an ever escalating rate.

agreed, which is why many UBI advocates point to freedom of the person to find their own meaningful way of occupying their time and employing their talents.

hardly worth the effort to respond to a pre-evolved scrooge other than to say humbug!

it is important to remember that every economic system exists solely in the minds of those who operate within it and that they have no more substance than we give them in our policies and our processes. There were numerous times in history when all debt was wiped out and everyone started fresh. There were also numerous times when charging interest was a criminal act.

As I posted above, if human beings can stick people in a canister and fire it to moon and even bring them back safely, dealing with all the real world ramifications involved, there is nothing we cannot do with a economic system that exists primarily in our minds and practices.

agreed, this exchange of labour for wages is out dated and increasingly irrelevant every year due to automaton, robotics and a host of other advancements occurring at an escalating rate every year.

your liberal wet dream comment belongs in the last century. Such old worn out labels are irrelevant today. Please offer an alternative to the UBI or the reality that science and technology is replacing the human component in the workplace at an ever escalating rate. I know its easy to be dismissive about what might be and I know there will those who will work hard as obstructionists against progress and an evolving society preferring the status quo over change.

But those who have examined the existing economic structures closely will all tell you that they are but agreements regarding conditions and processes. They exist primarily in our heads and on paper and in our practices. Consider that we have already taken human beings, stuck them in a canister and sent them to the moon. We even brought them back safe and sound. And that was working with real world circumstances and conditions where we desparately needed new ways of looking at what we knew and what we needed to know to made the thing happen.

You don't need to know what will happen, or how it will actually unfold just as the first astronauts and the crews that worked with them did not know. But they knew what they wanted to happen and gave everything they had to get it done.

I agree, a BI is about freedom, freedom to choose how to spend the limited time we have on this planet. Simply exchanging our labour for wages is an out dated and increasingly unrealistic concept. There was never a time of full employment and there never will. Introducing a BI is looking forward while arguing for the status quo is living in a past that is less and less relevant every year.

Science and technology are eliminating the human component from the workplace at an ever escalating rate and there is far more that human beings have to offer each other than as mere workers and consumers. There are far more important and relevant ways for people to occupy their time and to value their lives than simply exchanging labour for wages and money for stuff.

A BI offers people the freedom to spend time raising their children, caring for infirm and/or the dying family members, volunteering and being involved in community endeavours. There would be an explosion of artistic talents and amateur sports, people would have the time and freedom to research and acquire ever more knowledge whenever the desire moves them and, thereby, enhance our collective knowledge base exponentially.

Employers would benefit greatly from a BI as well since they would not have to retain workers when markets are down or be vilified for shutting a business down or moving it to some other community. Employers would have people who actually want the jobs because those workers will want more than a basic existence while those who were taking jobs simply for a paycheck to survive will be directing their efforts o more self-fulfilling and community enriching endeavours. Employers will also be free to offer other incentives to employees other than wages such as homes, condos, cars, etc. But employers will no longer be able to impose unsafe working conditions and unhealthy workplaces on employees.

Granted, there are a great many people who are so tied to the existing structures that they fear or simply dismiss change. But change is inevitable, nothing is static, everything in the universe is in transition, including the universe itself. Yes those who have benefited the most from the existing structures will be the most fervent opponents of a BI, since may of them think their wealth represents their value as human beings while others find their value in their exchange of labour for wages - namely their jobs and careers. But no one is suggesting changing that. There is no reason those premises cannot continue.

At the end of the day a BI is about freedom. The freedom of a person to choose how to spend the time this life offers us. The idea that human beings are not self motivated to improve their lot in life is laughable and not worthy of debate. Those who argue against that concept of freedom are the ones holding back humankind.