Free income/objections

Common Objections to Free Income

• Objection: It costs too much.
  • Reality: Actually, we spend more on other solutions already.
    • Myths/people need incentives to work
    • 2014/05/27/Leaving Homeless Person On The Streets: $31,065. Giving Them Housing: $10,051.
• Objection: If you give people money, they will spend it unwisely.
• Objection: I don't want my tax money going to pay for someone else's lifestyle.
  • Reality: Unless you object to all taxation of any kind, this devolves into "FI is harmful to society."
• Objection: Giving people free money is bad for society.
  • Reality: There's no evidence that it is harmful, and considerable evidence that it is beneficial (at least in our modern jobsolescent society). You'll have to be more specific.
• Objection: Giving people free money makes them lazy.
  • Reality: Studies have shown that only mechanical tasks are even somewhat motivated by financial incentives; with intellectual/creative tasks, financial incentive actually serves as a damper.
  • Implied Objection: nobody would work if they weren't forced to by the need to earn income.
    • Reality: The majority of the US does at least some work without pay -- in the form of running a household, volunteering, community organizing, unpaid software development, etc.