[_heimdall]

That may be the crux of it though, people largely don't know what "enough" means.

People aren't okay with having shelter, food, water, and community. We want the smartphones, huge TVs, ridiculously expensive cars, access to fly anywhere in the world, etc. We absolutely could have all the basics cover, and then some, with 20% of the work we all put in today but few people want that world.

[effingwewt]

You forgot about all the people making minimum wage working 40+ hours who can't afford the basics like food and shelter

Because you can cover your necessities with 20% of your income doesn't mean everyone else can.

I know several people on SSI who had to take under the table jobs because their checks wont cover their food and shelter. And that's with food stamps. If they get a regular job they lose their SSI.

Ive got a friend who had to take a part time job dashing after work as a supervisor at my factory.

I think about this stuff when I'm working overtime- how lucky I am to be able to rather than have to find a second job.

I make over 6 figures as an electrician/instrumentation technician. I have a surgery coming up in September that's going to cost me 40k+. Instead of feeling it's so much and all the other things I could use that money for, I try to remind myself I'm blessed to be able to afford it without saving for years. I, again, know people who work full time and don't make that in a year.

[_heimdall]

I was actually thinking about the societal level here rather than any one person's financial situation.

I expect that we could make sure everyone had the basics much more easily if the average person could define what "enough" means for themselves. For one thing, we would be using many fewer resources as a country and would therefore be much better able to make sure the resources we do have would be available. For another, when a person knows what "enough" is for them they may decide to work less when they achieve that goal, leaving those potential paying work hours for the next person that needs the work.

[harimau777]

It feels like people go to far the other way as well. People don't just need shelter, food, water, and community. Things like entertainment, art, and learning are also essential to having a good life.

[_heimdall]

Totally agree here. In my opinion, though, a UBI won't help with those and could actually hurt. We continue to quantify our lives to the point where the government can put a price on the products they deem me to be entitled to.

I'm not totally sold on Iain McGilchrist's specific analogy of the brain hemispheres, but his underlying point is spot on. In his model, we continue to make our world more and more left-brained (analytical) and we're losing the way of seeing the world required for art, community, etc. I expect a UBI would just make that worse, further quantifying our lives and reinforcing the idea that we're all cogs in a machine that can purr like a kitten if we just do as we're told and avoid thinking critically or differently.