It’s an unprecedented – and massive – experiment: Since 2017 the U.S.-based charity GiveDirectly has been providing thousands of villagers in Kenya what’s called a “universal basic income” – a cash grant of about $50, delivered every month, with the commitment to keep the payments coming for 12 years. It is a crucial test of what many consider one of the most cutting-edge ideas for alleviating global poverty. This week a team of independent researchers who have been studying the impact released their first results.
Well that’s obvious. Human beings are genetically programmed to want to work. They’d do more of it if capitalism wasn’t stopping them.
https://youtu.be/8rh3xPatEto?feature=shared
Obvious to you and I, not to most people. One of the most common arguments against UBI is that paying people to sit around and do nothing will encourage people to sit around and do nothing.
I find it endlessly amusing that capitalists think money can meaningfully influence human nature