Free income/objections

Common Objections to Free Income

• Objection: It costs too much.
  • Reality: Actually, we spend more on other solutions already.
    • 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." All of us pay taxes that are sometimes used for things we don't personally like.
• 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.
    • 2020-05-06 Universal basic income seems to improve employment and well-being
    • 2015-10-08 The remarkable thing that happens to poor kids when you give their parents a little money
• 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.
    • Myths/people need incentives to work
    • 2018-02-18 Study Finds People Given Basic Income Are Likely to Keep Working
  • 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.