
The UBI already exists for the 1% - spditner
https://medium.com/@MattBruenig/the-ubi-already-exists-for-the-1-d3a49fad0580
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senior_james
"In 2015, according to PSZ, the richest 1% of people in America received 20.2%
of all the income in the nation. Ten points of that 20.2% came from equity
income, net interest, housing rents, and the capital component of mixed
income. "

How can you possibly equate this to UBI? Everything listed here is money
earned through risk/work. UBI is a free check from the government.

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John23832
The article equates the difference between the capital gains and income taxes
as UBI for rich people.

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whack
It's somewhat of a stretch to compare capital income and UBI. The people
receiving capital income today are reaping the benefits of their prior income
that they had paid taxes for, and chosen to save instead of spend. This is
qualitatively different from someone getting a no-strings-attached payment
from the government.

I'm all in favor of UBI, but this doesn't sound like a valid argument.

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xt00
Saying that rich people who earn money from people paying rent on
houses/apartments that they own or investments paying back over time, is like
saying that a farmer who planted the crop earlier in the year is "getting it
for free" later.. I would agree if the UBI was equated to "my dad is super
rich and I don't have to worry about money...". so those rich kids with no
cares in the world, how do they usually turn out?

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drewrv
I've met a number of wealthy people in my life who never had to work and I
wouldn't wish that life upon my enemies. I don't know how else to phrase it
but having to work builds character.

That being said, I'm a fan of the idea behind a UBI.

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cjlars
I wonder how much selection bias is embedded in this (common) sentiment. It
takes a certain type of character flaw to want to flaunt your money. I'd
imagine there's a silent majority among wealthy heirs that just never bring it
up, try to blend in, and are perfectly well-adjusted.

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SamBam
Very true. I have coworkers who I only found out years later were wealthy
through family money. They worked as hard as anyone else, and no one had any
reason to know they were wealthy.

I'd love to see studies on this, though.

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cjlars
Just did some googling on this. For the most part, there doesn't seem to be
much research on inheritance & personality disorders, which is odd because
'does money make us happy' is one of the biggest questions in sociology. I did
find this paper however, which is full of tangential information:

[https://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/mygsb/faculty/research/pubfile...](https://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/mygsb/faculty/research/pubfiles/2669/Too%20much%20not%20enough.pdf)

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Rockslide
Discussion from four days ago:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13303420](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13303420)

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chrisbennet
_" The universal basic income — a cash payment made to every individual in the
country — has been critiqued recently by some commentators. Among other
things, these writers dislike the fact that a UBI would deliver individuals
income in a way that is divorced from working. Such an income arrangement
would, it is argued, lead to meaninglessness, social dysfunction, and
resentment. One obvious problem with this analysis is that passive income —
income divorced from work — already exists. It is called capital income. It
flows out to various individuals in society in the form of interest, rents,
and dividends. According to Piketty, Saez, and Zucman (PSZ), around 30% of all
the income produced in the nation is paid out as capital income. "_

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aminorex
Please don't overlook the more valid point: Simply uniformly distributing a
portion of the passive interest on the wealth of the top 1% globally would
suffice to eliminate the most brutal poverty worldwide.

