Man, rich people really think this way... Like, the wealthiest person I know is in my direct family, and this is how they talk every day.
Nobody even brings it up, they can't wait to shit on everyone that is less fortunate than them. The poorer someone is, the less they value them. It's so frustrating - anytime I'm around them, I'm just constantly trying to steer the conversation to a safe place.
Sure they do. My SO's ex boss was a multimillionaire who has a business that requires him to put money into it, as it's a long term investment kind of thing, and you'd think people were pulling his teeth out he fussed so much. Then don't have a business and sit on your ass all day and hoard your money. They're the greediest people.
Where the fuck do these people assholes think their "trillions of dollars" come from? People need to have money in order to spend it. If you put everyone out of work then theirs not going to be anything left for them to spend on your bullshit products and services.
The average middle-class capitalist moron view of economics is when you get rich the government fires up it's money machine and delivers you sacks of cash. The only thing keeping us all from getting our own sacks is momentary inconveniences and they too will be rich one day just as soon as they [fill in a thousand blanks.]
A billionaire has deprived vast numbers of people of something. You do not hold onto a billion dollars in your hand without the knowledge that some... or most of that would have paid for medical procedures, some of that would have been baby formula, medicine, overdue rent payments, gas to get to work for a struggling family, heat and water bills and so on. But you have found ways to skim that money from enough people that few notice. Because you don't miss something that was intercepted before it made it to you.
The problem I have with UBI is say I get a hundred bucks a week from it, there's not a single thing stopping my landlord, or my utility companies, or local supermarkets, or anyone in this godforsaken system from just raising their prices to siphon it all away.
We don't need universal income, we need universal services. Garaunteed housing, food, public transport, healthcare, everything needed to sustain atleast a basic standard of living so we're not constantly in fear of whether the last month of 70 hour work weeks is going to be enough to keep of the streets and keep food on the table.
Tie it to inflation and end taxes on individuals... It makes no sense to distribute UBI and then tax it. Just tax the whole bill for society to the corporations. That incentivizes corporations to put pressure on each other to keep prices down and make products that last. There are definitely some industries that should be owned by the state though.
I mean he's right. A system where ubi is just handed out to placate the unenpowered is a recipe for disaster.
We NEED real power, including economic. Why would your vote matter if the military doesn't need you, why would your purchasing power matter if you don't produce anything, etc.
People may have intrinsic worth but intrinsic worth doesn't the levers of power pull.
The world isn't going to be uninhabitable within our lifetimes either. Doesn't mean we don't have a responsibility towards future generations in making sure we head in the right direction.
I do think its possible but my bet is more on the probability that it will be leveraged to commodify and further alienate labor so that that power can be leveraged less.
The tools used to align the machines is where that power would reside in. A kind of church caste for the machine with the purpose of giving meaning.
