<Basic Income Series> Is basic income "earned for nothing"?

Thanks to netizen @阿宗 for the question I wrote about the "Basic Income" article I wrote earlier. I think what he's thinking is what most people can't accept psychologically, and I try to answer to the best of my knowledge.

The basic income can be obtained without work. Is it too underestimating the thinking of the poor in Taiwan? There is no need to pay for reciprocal exchanges, and it will only crush the finances.

Indeed, a "basic income", whether ostensibly or in fact, is earned without labor. However, the original spirit of "basic income" is not to reward you for labor. It is based on the concept of a "national contract". In order to protect the basic right of life of the people, the state gives you a certain amount of money to maintain your survival needs. If "earning for nothing" is not allowed, then all the existing welfare and assistance systems are equally illegitimate. The biggest reason for choosing "basic income" over "welfare assistance" is that it is more efficient and avoids "labeling" and "poverty traps".

I'm not sure what the so-called "poor man's mind" means? Most of the poor people I know do not become poor because they are unwilling to work, but become poor because they lack an "opportunity" to work. Due to the development of artificial intelligence, the opportunities for labor in the future will become less and less, and there will be more and more poor people. This cannot be solved by encouraging everyone to work.

Next, consider the relationship between "labor" and "income". "Income" can be roughly divided into "labor income" and "capital income". "Income from labor" is what you get for actually working, and "income from capital" is the money or assets you already have (land, house, inheritance, copyright, etc.). Under the current economic system, there is no need for Work gets paid. From a certain point of view, "capital income" is actually closer to "earning for nothing", but we feel that it is "justified".

Therefore we cannot oppose "basic income" based on the concept of "earning for nothing", because there are many other "earnings for nothing" in society.

The issuance of "basic income" is of course a huge financial burden, and it is bound to be dealt with by raising taxes. Most of the current "basic income" systems propose tax sources mainly for "capital income" rather than "labor income". The current tax system, on the contrary, taxes "labor income" rather than "capital income", which has caused serious uneven distribution. The "basic income" is aimed at improving such uneven distribution. "Basic income" is actually more like "tax reform" than an increase in "fiscal burden".

Of course, tax reform will inevitably affect the operation of economic development, many of which are still unknown and require more thinking and experimentation. But what is certain is that if the unemployment rate continues to rise, there will inevitably be a contraction in consumption, which will lead to an economic depression, which will have a greater impact on economic development. After all, production is for consumption, and without consumption, production is meaningless. That's why many large corporations and capitalists are openly in favor of a "basic income" system, because the recession is the bigger problem. In the past, Taiwan used to issue "consumption vouchers" to stimulate economic development, which had a certain effect at that time. Basic income also has a similar effect, and it is a stable and fair distribution, which should be positive for the economy as a whole.

I have opened a small and medium-sized company. If you have a redundant employee, you can feel that the basic monthly salary is based on the labor-based law. This is really the biggest reason for crushing small companies.

I think, we can't directly compare the operation of the country with the operation of the company! After all, the goals of the two are very different. The company is for profit, how the country should take good care of its citizens.

The "basic monthly salary" should refer to the basic salary. I also think that there are indeed many problems with the "basic salary", which cause difficulties in the operation of enterprises. But the wonderful thing is that "basic income" can solve this problem. If a basic income is implemented, there is less need for a "basic wage" limit! Because the "basic wage" is designed to guarantee the minimum standard of living, with the basic income, employers and workers can set labor remuneration according to actual needs; because workers have greater freedom of work, enterprises have their own needs , so that the conditions of labor can be determined in a free economic system, which is mutually beneficial for both parties. People who don't want to work don't have to be "redundant" by doing a job they don't like, and the boss can get employees who want to do the job more. Isn't it the best of both worlds?

The investment environment in Taiwan is already very friendly to the people, so let's learn more about it.

maybe! However, many companies use low wages to squeeze labor to make profits, and use many tax avoidance methods to avoid "capital income". I think this is a very unhealthy business method and cannot be operated for a long time. Not only is it against social justice, but it is unfavorable to the economy. .

Everyone wants to work freely and happily, but not everyone reaches this stage, because it is related to personal finances,

The spirit of basic income is that we hope that through this method, we can have the opportunity to work freely without having to be born into a good enough family.

What should be discussed is that if we don’t teach children the correct concept of savings and investment and financial management, and we have been relying on labor to earn income, and if inflation continues to rise like this, can our children still see the future?

Isn't this way of encouraging everyone to replace "income from labor" with "income from capital", just strengthening the concept of "earning for nothing"?

The above is my answer to the question about basic income, welcome everyone to discuss and question as much as possible!