I swear I'm probably not a communist- Speech, Henry Trotsky Walther

The Communist’s Dream through Capitalist Means

If you give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day, if you teach a man to fish, he’ll eat for a lifetime, if you get a machine to fish for the man he’ll realize he’s always hated fishing and finally get to spend time with his family. Automation is replacing large numbers of jobs and this will only continue to increase over time. In response to a 21st century problem we need a 21st century solution. Enter the universal basic income which is essentially a replacement and overhaul of our current welfare system. So, first off, what is a basic income, why is it needed and what are the conservative and liberal reasons to support it?

So what exactly is a basic income? Well, basicincome.com defines it as “An income unconditionally granted to all on an individual basis, without means test or work requirement”. In application it is essentially the elimination of all current welfare and government assistance programs and streamlining them into one, monthly payment to all citizens in the United States. And yes, when I saw “all citizens” I do mean ALL citizens. Whether you're Donald Trump or a homeless man on the street, you will receive a monthly check with no strings attached. Sounds radical? It is now, but it hasn't always been. In fact, in the year 1969 under President Nixon (toxic name yes, but he did have some good ideas) the United States President's Commission on Income Maintenance Programs report detailed a basic income proposal that said, "the Committee proposes providing a basic income of around $4,700 per adult and around $2,900 per child. So, for a family of four, it would be around $15,200 per year." In current dollars, this equates to a basic income of $30,430 per adult U.S. citizen, $49,200 for a single parent, and $98,400 for a family of four. 

It’s time to address the big elephant in the room, cost. It’s the one thing stopping Bernie Sanders from dressing up like Santa and dropping millions of dollars out of an airplane and the one thing stopping me from going to basically every college I look at. If social security and medicaid were left alone but all other welfare programs were eliminated, there would be enough to give every adult US citizen approximately $7,500 per year. So with no additional government spending, we could pay around 75% of the poverty line. Now compare this to the 1969 plan calling for $30,000 per year. We were once willing to invest in our future but something changed along the way and I'm sure we can get it back. But we have to consider another thing, what is the cost if we DON’T implement a basic income? Due to the loss of jobs that I will get to soon, millions will be jobless and on welfare, increasing the cost of our current program to unprecedented levels. So I call for a yearly, per person basic income of around $20,000. Yes, it will have a large upfront cost but we should view it more as an investment than a cost.

So that’s all jolly and good and sure, I guess we could pay for it but why? Why would we replace our welfare system that we have been building for countless years? To this question I have one response: automation. This may come as a shock because, well it is shocking, but a peer review 2013 study by two Oxford University professors found that by the year 47% of all jobs will be automated by the year 2037. 47%. The first wave is already underway, within the next 10 years driverless cars will become commonplace and fast food workers will turn into fast food touch screens. Truck drivers, telemarketers, accountants, paralegals, assembly line works, these jobs will all become obsolete in the next 20 years. This sounds crazy but imagine our world 20 years ago. Windows 95 was innovative, mobile phones weighed 10 pounds, and tamagotchis were high tech. Is it inconceivable that in the next 20 years, similarly huge leaps can be made? 

Now I realize many of you are initially skeptical due to the fact I'm a liberal but the beauty of the basic income is that it is non partisan. The documentary “Money for Free” shows that Alaska has implemented the closest thing to UBI through the Alaska permanent fund of about one thousand dollars a year which was support by the republican governor. Remember which president recommended a UBI? Nixon, a republican. Nobel prize winning economist (and strong libertarian) Milton Freidman also advocated for this legislation along with the likes of MLK and Thomas Payne. This isn’t a partisan issue and that’s the beauty of it. It’s not right or left, it’s forward. So, here are five reasons conservatives should support basic income. 

First, the welfare trap. Republicans are often critical of our current welfare program because there is no large incentive to work when you would barely get more money working than you would get doing nothing and collecting welfare checks. The reason for this is as soon as you get a job, the checks stop coming in. With UBI, the money is constant and guaranteed which mean there’s no reason for poor people not to go out and look for work.

Second, capitalism. The title of my paper is communist dream through capitalist means and there’s a reason for that. The crux of capitalism is risky investment and entrepreneurship and this works best with a strong safety net. Think about it, are you more likely to quit your job and pursue your innovative idea if you have no constant stream of money or if you have unconditional checks coming in monthly? The latter obviously is the right choice.

Numero tres, immigration. Basically everyone in the republican party want to decrease illegal immigration but they all go about this by disincentiving illegal immigration instead of incentivizing lawful immigration. What’s a greater incentive than free money? Nothing, and an often unforeseen byproduct of UBI is it’s impact on immigration.

Fourth, government waste. In order for someone to get government housing in our current system they have to go through 27 government agencies. 27! This is extremely inefficient and all the money spent on bureaucracy would be much better spent on actually helping the poor. Need more proof? This point is the exact reason Milton Freidman supported UBI.

Finally, he minimum wage and Obamacare. With UBI there would be no need to raise the minimum wage and all Obamacare subsidies would be repealed. That’d be a huge win for conservatives.

The most common retort I’ve heard from conservatives is: basic income would cause tons of people to quit their jobs and become lazy bums who sit on their couch watching TV and living off my dime. Well, first of all that is a very pessimistic view on the nature of people and second it’s just not true. A meta-analysis by the World Bank found that over 4,000 case studies involving direct cash transfers, there is no overall increase in measurable laziness or people quitting jobs. In fact, the most common change is simply a cut in the hours people work. This turns out to be a good thing. With unemployment as high as 40%, any decrease in people’s working hours opens up someone else to fill in for them which in turn decreases overall unemployment.  

Many of you know my political affiliation so there are certainly liberal reasons for basic income. In fact, I’ve found five major reasons for democrats to support it.

First, guaranteed minimum living standard. This is the single greatest reason I support basic income. Our society has more than enough but we somehow find justification for allowing people to starve and be homeless. By providing a basic income to everyone, we will for the first time as a country, ensure freedom for all of our citizens. Freedom to spend time as they please regardless of how much money they make. Spending time with your kids and practicing art isn’t a luxury for the rich, it’s a possibility for us all. 

Next, an economic base for minorities. There’s never been a truly effective attempt at providing economic opportunities for minorities. Evidence for this is seen through a February 2015 article on CNN that pointed out that white families have, on average, 12 times more wealth than blacks and latinos. This is unacceptable and a UBI would shift the wealth paradigm towards a more fair equilibrium.

Thirdly, worker bargaining power. Democrats have long fought for the rights of the common union man and UBI would be the most drastic shift in the power of the worker in recent history. Now, no one would have to take a job just because it pays the bills or accept undervalued positions. People could stand up to their bosses and demand to be treated respectfully.

Fourth, art and culture. I’m sure there are countless amazingly talented people out there who can’t contribute culturally because they're stuck in a dead end job just to pay the bills. A UBI would free these people from their prisons and increase America’s culture greatly.

Finally, redistribution from capital to labor. Without UBI the future looks pretty bleak for an average American. The CEOs and stockholder of companies who inevitably outsource will become rich off the ever cheapening cost of machinery while the rest of the populace suffers. I know this sounds awfully Bernie Sanders like but here me out, a large redistribution of wealth might not be fair, but it’s a necessary evil.

In conclusion, supporting a universal basic income isn’t right nor left, it’s forward. I’ve presented 5 reasons to support UBI no matter where you fall on the political spectrum and also explained how we’d pay for it and why we need it. So what can you do? The first step is simply becoming more informed by reading up on basic income then sharing what you learn with others. It’s a very unknown and underreported idea so the more exposure the better. If everything works out well, make sure to vote and support candidates who endorse UBI in the future. I’d like to leave you with this question: Do you think that having your basic rights met is a right or a privilege? If you agree with me that it should be a right, support a universal basic income.