I support the idea of UBI (universal basic income) because indeed there may come a time, sooner than we think, where most of the work is done by robots and AI.
The biggest impediment to humanity is humanity itself, and in this case, the ego of individualism. When a person has an idea, they have to put work into that idea. If they acquire a partner they have to sell or give a percentage of that business to that person. If they had to do this with everyone the capitalist argument is that people wouldn't have the same motivation to create those new companies; that it is the drive to get rich that motivates people do the extra that it takes to build a successful business.
I preach balance.
I can see, up to a point, where capitalists are coming from. However, this is especially true in a capitalist system. What if you sold your idea to an idea bank and then that bank matched all the right people to bring that idea into fruition. The idea could be valued by that bank and the person compensated. If the idea is good enough to make you rich then you get rich. Since the idea bank is supported by taxes all ideas are purchased by the people and become free use.
Because the individual's idea must be protected the government steps in, through copyright laws and trademarks, that it makes money on (at least $500), to keep others from taking the idea and selling it themselves. This also discourages ideas and innovations. I know a certain company who started selling a product and then turned around and gave that product to the Chinese to create a knock off version to sell it for cheaper. That's capitalism.
So if you want to fundamentally change it you have to fundamentally take an alternate approach to guide an idea through all stages of development.
If the idea was purchased by an idea bank then the interests that need to be protected are the people's interest. Instead of simply paying taxes, the people would get back a return on all the taxes they paid into supporting the idea bank. Maybe they could even choose between several idea banks, one for each industry. Say you want to invest in the medical field. Mark your taxes dollars to support the medical field. If there's a new vaccine or drug, it can't be over priced because it is owned by the people.
When you have an individual person controlling a company and reaping a grossly imbalanced amount of the profit then grotesque issues of greed are bound to happen. They're not just profiting from an idea anymore. Now they're controlling the product, knowing that if they have a monopoly they can charge more. The government protects drugs and actually keeps out competition so that people cannot buy the least expensive version of that drug on the market. Why do they need to step in? Because all this stuff about capitalism and market forces is really just their way of protecting their own pathways into wealth. And they think anyone who id against it is against an individual building wealth.
I think if a single individual is a genius and keeps coming up with great ideas they should be rich. If those ideas are more of a contribution to the world then they should be paid accordingly. That way you reward people for ideas. And then you use tax dollars to get the best people to develop those ideas into products. This also means that a good idea doesn't have to rely on the good execution. Many good ideas suffer from this and never get made because the idea is patented or trademarked so no one else, perhaps a more successful development team, can create it.
There has to be a balance between product and customer, product and worker. You have specialized skills? That should pay more money. And you should make more money the longer and better you are. And you should level up like a character in an RPG because people respond better to systems of personal development.
And from the idea bank the idea could go to a coop which is a team of people who make whatever they make according to their job/level and maybe they get bonuses for outperforming other teams, for reaching new levels as individuals and/or as teams, etc. I'm saying this because standard capitalist thinking is that you have to throw millions of dollars at a CEO for them to do their best so they can make more money for the shareholders. But if the CEO is in a coop then HE IS a shareholder, just like everyone else. And so everyone is motivated to work hard be successful. Just like how many companies provide stock options.
Once you have taken care of the supply side of economics then you can start looking at the demand. Even a modest salary is good if you have stock options in a good company. But maybe you can apply for subsidies that make certain products you need a lot cheaper for you by giving you a discount equal to the profit margin. Since the profit margin is going back to the people in the coop they're still getting paid to make the product so technically they're not out any money. And as they all pay taxes more money gets set aside to bring new ideas to life which then allows more coops to be created. On top of that you have a portion of income generated from taxing the profits of every coop so that everyone gets a universal basic income. This simply means that investing is automatic.
Well what if you want to invest more?
Then you should either be able to go in with a bank, or group of other investors, and provide an extra fund that coops can draw from and pay back; especially necessary during the first 5 years of a new idea where it may not be making any money at all. This means there would still be a free market for investors to take part in. And maybe they too can "level up" as an investor.
But right now this capitalist economy is more about exploitation. You have to change the whole goal and mindset, not to be all about the worker either, but about the balance between everyone and how everyone can make money
...together.
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