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by _bxg1 2302 days ago
The argument for UBI in place of those other things is that it's extremely simple. Legislatively, bureaucratically, etc. Just give people more money to offset all of these systems that are too expensive. Simpler also means cheaper to implement.

It does avoid dealing with the root problems in some sense, but it's certainly elegant.
3 comments
karatestomp 2302 days ago
I'm tentatively a UBI fan, but just switching to single-payer healthcare would do a lot of that. So much damn bureaucracy, public and private, for that. I think the public side's under-accounted-for, actually—so many government agencies end up having to deal with health insurance crap for one reason or another.

Some would remain for private supplemental plans or whatever, but 90+% of that work would just go away. Plus all those uncompensated hours individuals spend fucking with insurance and medical provider billing departments.

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_bxg1 2302 days ago
Yep. People who oppose universal healthcare because "have you been to the DMV?" don't consider the fact that in this case private industry already has dramatically more bureaucracy than the government equivalent would. My health insurer is already the DMV, just without any legal obligation to help me.

Of course, it would still take tons of legwork to make the actual transition. But the end result would be a net win for simplicity.

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Ididntdothis 2302 days ago
Universal healthcare is a prerequisite for UBI. How could you ever rely on it if you have the threat of a six figure hospital bill whenever you get sick or have an accident? Affordable housing is also a prerequisite or the UBI money will go straight into the pockets of landlords (I often suspect this is the secret plan of billionaires who propose UBI).
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beatgammit 2302 days ago
A lot of the poor that qualify for benefits can already get equivalents through family or friends if the program were not offered. If we just give cash, they're likely to spend it on other things and combine expenses where possible.
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Ididntdothis 2302 days ago
“It does avoid dealing with the root problems in some sense, but it's certainly elegant.”

Yes it’s an avoidance of the real problems. Basically a nice looking pipe dream.

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