Welfare is very expensive, it costs the U.S. more than $2 Trillion dollars a year and the costs are predicted to keep going up. Welfare also does a lot of good, providing a lifeline for millions that otherwise would die without health care or be forced to beg on the streets for the lack of another source of income.
Republicans look at the numbers and they see a problem, saying the country can’t afford it and a reform to curb spending is necessary. Democrats look at how many people in need are not eligible and see a problem, insisting we should expand eligibility in various social programs.
So in short, the problems pointed out by both parties are real, but both solutions suck.
If Republicans get their wish, that means a lot more people in dire need would basically have less help. Cutting Social Security means more elders would have to get jobs at Walmart. Cutting healthcare costs mean telling poor people to fuck off if they get sick. It’s a very mean solution.
If Democrats get their wish, that means a lot more spending, a lot more deficit or a lot more taxes or both. It’s possible, and maybe even likely, that doing this would hurt the economy, reducing jobs and make more people need help. It’s a very risky solution, and it might fail spectacularly.
Meanwhile you have the Tech industry starting to talk about Universal Basic Income based on the belief the robots and AI will render the working class useless. If this happens, and there is reason to believe it will, the cost will be astronomical. Keep in mind that as of right now, the U.S. is already in a huge deficit.
The problem with UBI is the same problem with overall welfare spending. In order to provide a good quality of life for a person, the amount of money you need per person per year is a lot. Also, costs change over time:
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So the UBI amount would not only have to be substantial but it’d have to keep up with the increases in healthcare cost, in education and in housing.
By the way this shelter line is an average, that is hiding the fact that in big metro areas this went up the roof and in smaller cities and rural areas it became cheaper.
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So instead of talking about UBI, we should be talking about how to make the most expensive items in the cost of living breakdown cheaper. Not 10% cheaper, but 10x cheaper.
How can we make health care 10x cheaper?
How can we make college 10x cheaper?
How can we make housing 10x cheaper?
I think it’s a great thing we’re making technological progress, but I don’t think it’s fair for all of us in the industry to ignore the consequences of our actions. We can do better than this!