
Basic income advocates lost the battle in Switzerland. They're winning the war - abhi3
http://www.vox.com/2016/6/6/11861018/switzerland-basic-income-vote-rejected
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blisterpeanuts
Leave it to a left wing opinion blog like Vox to doublespeak a resounding
failure into a success. The headline really should read:

 _Basic income advocates lost by a huge margin in Switzerland._

77% opposed, 23% in favor can't possibly be encouraging except to the most
fervent believers. No politician is going to back a plan like this when the
public is more than 3/4 opposed to it.

It's also worth noting that Switzerland is a strong participatory democracy,
so we can be fairly confident that this vote count more or less reflects the
will of the people.

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abhi3
It's possible that people opposed it not because they are against Basic Income
but because of all the uncertainty regarding how it will be implemented. Will
all the current social programs be gone? Will I have my socialized healthcare?
Food Stamps? Will I have to pay a 80% tax?

77% respondents in exit polls also said that they'd back an experiment.

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blisterpeanuts
You can word a poll to be attractive. But a law, that's going to expose the
wording to intense debate and discussion, and then people's opinions may be
affected accordingly.

It's easy to say, "Would you favor a B.I. if it fit in with the current budget
and didn't deprive the gov't of funding for schools or force them to raise
taxes?" Of course most people (in a liberal country like that, at least) would
agree to that. I just suspect it's not going to be so easy to implement; if it
were, it would be common practice by now.

