why does it matter? The point of UBI is to allow people to do what they want.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/autonomy
1. the quality or state of being self-governing; 2. self-directing freedom and especially moral independence
exactly. The point is that they can do what they want.
And while playing WoW all day isn't exactly the worst thing, I could see issues if that turns into people getting depressed. MMO addiction isn't really healthy.
> And while [bagging groceries] all day isn't exactly the worst thing, I could see issues if that turns into people getting depressed. [Menial labor] isn't really healthy.
> And while [driving an truck / bus / uber] all day isn't exactly the worst thing, I could see issues if that turns into people getting depressed. [Sitting all day] isn't really healthy.
UBI at least gives people options. If someone is happy playing WoW all day, and society doesn't really need them anyway... I see no harm in that. At least they have the option to quit playing and do something else. People doing menial labor often don't.
The cycle would go something like this: * UBI checks start getting sent out * Large droves of people quit the shitty jobs * Due to reduced labor supply, cost of producing goods rises * The increased cost of living means that now we need to send out even bigger UBI checks (i.e. raise taxes)
This feedback loop continues until even the most motivated individual cannot rationally continue to pay into the system.
What's the difference in the two scenarios? Data. Which we don't have. So certainly a UBI should be carefully introduced to keep the economy stable.
Of course not everybody will quit their job to play a videogame, but what if a significant % of workers were simply "lost" overnight?
We are progress, it's the inability to progress that is the problem for a lot of us
If we break down that barrier then wow like things that supply fake progress will be less relevant