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Comment by jrs95 | Hacker News Reader

A lot of people are into UBI as a solution to this, but I personally don't think that will work. The social issues that would come from having that high of a level of unemployment, even with a UBI, would be enormous. I think it would be valuable to consider a more drastic departure from a capitalist system rather than applying yet another band-aid fix to it.

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What social issues have been postulated?

"Idle hands are the devil's workshop." The more people that are economically sidelined, who nave nothing to do and no prospects for self-advancement, the more appealing radical ideologies will become and the more social unrest there will be. A major source of social cohesion is the belief that if you work hard you will be able to succeed, but if it's structurally impossible to find work, and all you have is a UBI which doesn't afford much, you can expect that mass stagnation to provide ample breeding ground for a colorful assortment of social ills--drug abuse, suicide, crime, and finally, once the individual angst finds collective expression and organization, revolts and political radicalization.

Work is one of the major sources of purpose people have. Earning an income and putting food on the table is fundamental to one's self-respect. Like educational achievement, it gives the impression that there is some way to advance beyond your lot. Take that away and it will cause a mass existential crisis unless there is something to fill the void. All the blights of the rust belt and other economically overlooked areas should be expected to spread.

Are you saying that, if we ever arrive at a technologically advanced, post scarcity society where there is no money and everyone has access to as much education, entertainment, and material stuff as they want without having to work, then we'll all fall into a nihilistic despair and commit suicide or become heroin junkies?

I think they're saying that's the inevitable result of the current paradigm, not the natural trajectory of a human being. I do think there are a lot of people who define themselves by their work and by the (frequently flawed) notion that what they're working toward is a promotion, a pay raise, a title-bump. In a post-scarcity world there might still be that mentality and opportunities to satisfy it, but the implication is that more people will need to redefine their personal concept of success and fulfillment.

Sounds like neurotic Judeo-Christian work ethic propaganda.

UBI is the opposite of a post scarcity society, it props up a society of scarcity and exploitation by maintaining the current economic structure with an increasing unemployment rate.

> The more people that are economically sidelined, who nave nothing to do and no prospects for self-advancement

Eh, that's a wild assumption. If anything, automating away crap labour that barely keeps you sheltered and giving people the economic stability to focus on something long term should enable various forms of self-advancement for masses of people who are now just stuck doing a crap job until they get to retire.

> I think it would be valuable to consider a more drastic departure from a capitalist system rather than applying yet another band-aid fix to it.

Such as?

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