[olegkikin]

I don't think most of the people talking about basic income are the proponents. I'm a strong believer in that you should be paid the market rate for your work, so if you want to make good money, you must make smart choices about your education and career. That makes the whole system more efficient. I do however think that basic income is inevitable, because of the automation on the scale we've never seen before. Inevitable, because the other option is to let the unemployed starve. So not really an option.

[gloverkcn]

I'd like to think that letting the unemployed starve is not an option, but it is. People can be extremely cruel when they don't have to take responsibility for the outcomes of government policies.

They lean on "those people should have worked harder/planned better"

It wasn't that long ago that poor people who needed critical medical care were kicked to the curb to die on the street because they couldn't pay.

[olegkikin]

Ok, you're right, it is an option in third-world countries. I don't see it happening in the EU/US/AU/CA or even China (even considering their past human rights violations). But if it does happen on a large enough scale, hungry riots will just take over the means of the food production (mostly robots and other machinery these days).

> It wasn't that long ago that poor people who needed critical medical care were kicked to the curb to die on the street because they couldn't pay.

Healthcare is a separate issue. What you're describing is still happening all over, including the US. I've been looking at the US health insurance premiums, and I have no idea how an average person can afford something like that.