Well said Rob.
On 09/09/16 22:46, Rob Myers wrote:
On Fri, 9 Sep 2016, at 02:54 AM, marc garrett wrote:
βThe reason many people on the left are excited about proposals such
as universal basic income is that they acknowledge economic
inequality and its social consequences. However, a closer look at how
UBI is expected to work reveals that it is intended to provide
political cover for the elimination of social programs and the
privatization of social services. The Liberal Party's resolution is
no exception. Calling for "Savings in health, justice, education and
social welfare as well as the building of self-reliant, taxpaying
citizen," clearly means social cuts and privatization.β
Neoliberal proposals for UBI are obviously Neoliberal and should be
opposed on that basis. But the left's engagement with UBI goes a long
way past that.
"Inventing The Future" pages 118-123 (footnotes 91-119) lays out the
grounds for left UBI clearly. Or I pulled out some quotes relevant to
the above in May of this year -
http://robmyers.org/2016/05/27/left-universal-basic-income/
notably:
"The conservative argument for a basic income β which must be avoided
at all costs β is that it should simply replace the welfare state by
providing a lump sum of money to every individual. In this scenario,
the UBI would just become a vector of increased marketisation,
transforming social services into private markets. Rather than being
some aberration of neoliberalism, it would simply extend its essential
gesture by creating new markets. By contrast, the demand made here is
for UBI as a supplement to a revived welfare state."
This demand is not intended to be made in a vacuum or as an end in
itself. "Inventing The Future" proposes it as part of a broader
political programme, and as an answer to a particular set of political
problems.
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