[throwaway894345]

This might be a bug rather than a feature for a lot of people. Many people want humanity to concentrate in urban areas because it is better for the environment. Others complain about urbanites' tax dollars paying for rural roads (which is effectively the scenario you're describing, even if those tax dollars are labeled "UBI" and routed through rural citizens' bank accounts first). Still others see rural Americans as their political adversaries.

(Note that this is just an observation; not a value judgment)

[volkk]

> Many people want humanity to concentrate in urban areas because it is better for the environment.

I'm interested in learning more about this. I've never heard of it, are there any sources proving that this is the case? If people spread out more, is that actually more harmful? I can imagine this is an extremely complicated topic

[adwn]

I can't provide numbers for this, but many things are more efficient for dense settlements: transportation, any last-mile distribution (food, water, electricity) and collection (sewage, garbage).

[throwaway894345]

This is the line of reasoning I was referring to. Also urban areas emit (cause?) less carbon per capita than rural areas and both do better than suburban areas.

[teraflop]

So provide a basic income, but also shift some (or all) of the costs of those externalities onto the individual. Your basic income stretches farther if you choose a lifestyle that makes more efficient use of it.

[3fe9a03ccd14ca5]

This is already true. You make less money but it stretches farther in many areas outside of major cities. Most people live in these cities because they want to, even with all of the drawbacks. Not because they have to.

[dtech]

More "tax dollars" going to rural roads because more people live there is incomparable with a policy maker deciding that more budget should go there.

[throwaway894345]

In the current case, politicians are deciding to route dollars to rural roads because people live there. In the UBI case, tax dollars are given to people who live in rural areas who then pay tax to fix their own roads (or maybe we don't change how rural roads are funded and we just add on UBI?). Seems like you're making a distinction without a (meaningful) difference.