Andrew Yang Launches Nonprofit Aimed At Promoting Universal Basic Income (cnn.com) 197
An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNN: Nearly a month after ending his long shot Democratic presidential campaign, Andrew Yang launched on Thursday a nonprofit group focused on making the central ideas of his campaign a reality. The group, called Humanity Forward, will "endorse and provide resources to political candidates who embrace Universal Basic Income, human-centered capitalism and other aligned policies at every level," according to its website. The new group also plans to increase voter turnout in the 2020 election, with a particular focus on young Americans, Asian-Americans, independents and "individuals who have not been engaged in the political process," according to a release. Additionally, Yang, who is now a CNN political commentator, will launch a podcast in which he will "discuss new ideas to solve the greatest challenges of our time with" notable guests and "regular Americans" alike. Yang has also "committed to personally give $1,000 a month for an entire year to one donor to the new organization."
if he gets more people voting ... (Score:3)
Re:if he gets more people voting ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Absolutely NOT. I don't want an uninformed electorate voting. You know, those people who don't understand the issues, don't bother to learn the candidates positions, can't make a choice on their own, and believe the ads. That's why we're where we're at today.
Re:if he gets more people voting ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: if he gets more people voting ... (Score:2)
We've always had an uninformed electorate. That's the whole point of the electoral system.
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We've always had an uninformed electorate.
It is very likely the people not voting are even more ignorant about the issues than those that do vote. So focusing on "increasing turnout" without increasing education about the issues is unlikely to lead to better outcomes.
Re: if he gets more people voting ... (Score:2)
I doubt that the average regular voter has such a keen advantage in decision making to outweigh the wisdom of the masses. Generally speaking, more voters equals better decision making. The rare well-informed voter isn't a large enough demographic to swing most elections.
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Said like a true "design by committee" guy.
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Based on what?
Higher voter turnout just means higher voter turnout. Nobody's ever tried establishing that voter turnout produces better or worse candidates.
Re: if he gets more people voting ... (Score:2)
The only possible way to define "better" in an election is to say it is the candidate most people are happy with. The more people who vote, the closer you come to that ideal.
Re: if he gets more people voting ... (Score:2)
"It is very likely the people not voting are even more ignorant about the issues than those that do vote."
Nah. The better one understands the issues, the more one understands that the "two parties" are in agreement on almost everything that matters, and that their position is inimical to the interests of the American people.
It takes a lot of blind optimism to vote for evil, just because you think it _might_ be a lesser evil. It's still evil. You just voted for evil. Good job.
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Re:if he gets more people voting ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Absolutely NOT. I don't want an uninformed electorate voting.
You simply don't understand democracy. Democracy has never been about making the best decision - that's why we have a representative republic, not a direct democracy. The demos is incapable of wise decision making, and that's fine, that was never the point.
The point of democracy is non-violent overthrow of the government when almost everyone wants the current leaders gone. Anything else is just gravy.
You know, those people who don't understand the issues, don't bother to learn the candidates positions, can't make a choice on their own, and believe the ads. That's why we're where we're at today.
Yes, yes, everyone else is just sheeple. You're the only smart one. Just like everyone else.
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The idea of a an informed electorate is really a pipe dream.
The key point of having a representative democracy where we elect people to make the decision and setup rules on our behalf is because society cannot function with everyone being informed on all the issues we just don't have enough time to be on top of all the issues and work our daily jobs more focused on whatever we like to do.
Even if you read a newspaper every day and keep Cable News stations on while you work every day, doesn't necessarily mak
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Re: if he gets more people voting ... (Score:2)
I disagee. Most people can barely run their own lives. Do not really need them involved in trying to run the country.
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What happens to that $1K/Month (Score:5, Informative)
Re: What happens to that $1K/Month (Score:3)
Rent is somewhat of a market in plenty of places and there will be landlords happy to keep making what they are and have more stable renters.
Re: What happens to that $1K/Month (Score:2, Insightful)
Well moving away from employment opportunities sounds like a winning strategy. That is if you are trying to make a lifetime voter who is now dependent on you....
Re:What happens to that $1K/Month (Score:5, Informative)
It’s a whole shitfest of knock on effects - everyone gets an influx of money, which means that some people will try and grab it, which means that other people will get outraged at that, which means that the government will be petitioned to “protect” this money, which means more government enforcement (rent controls, controls on prices of goods etc), which means more cost for enforcement officers....
How does government housing benefit work in the US? Until the late-1990s, in the UK it was paid to the landlord directly and it was easy to find a landlord which took benefit claimants. Then they changed it to “empower” the claimant, and paid the money to the claimant instead, with the intention that they would pay the landlord and thus feel more in control of their money.
What happened instead? Many went out and spent it rather than paid the bills, which meant landlords were on the hook for unpaid rent and the cost of eviction, which could take 6 months or more.
So today, many private landlords won’t rent to benefits claimants because of that.
The governments solution? Make it illegal for private landlords to discriminate based on receiving housing benefit - the government would rather foist the problem on to the private landlord and spend the money enforcing that than fix the issue properly. Going back to paying the landlord directly would solve everything and cost nothing, but the government won’t do it.
I can easily see the same thing happening with a UBI that’s intended to replace every other benefit - take away the restriction of food stamps and it will get spent on booze and smokes, or flat screen TVs etc, and the people who are providing services such as private rentals will suffer.
Re: What happens to that $1K/Month (Score:2)
Re: What happens to that $1K/Month (Score:5, Insightful)
When they physically own the property, I have utterly no problem with them seeking rent. It’s their property. Literally. The UK local governments sold off most of their public housing in the 1980s, so it’s the private market which has to pick that slack up - if they don’t, then you have people living homeless, like in many US cities.
I own a property in the UK and I rent it out to pay the mortgage on it - if my tenant fails to pay the rent for a few months, they are being evicted and the properties going to be sold, because fuck that shit (I only rent it currently because I temporarily live in another country and want somewhere to come back to when I come back to the UK). So that’s another property that’s unavailable for rent.
The government isn’t dealing with the lack of a available housing for people who can’t afford to buy - they are pushing it all on the private market and forcing private landlords to deal with it regardless, and many of us are simply getting out because we can’t afford to deal with the costs of 6 months of no income and the mortgage not being paid, eviction costs and associated damage.
So yeah, you can take your morality stance on Slashdot and shove it.
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The other solution is to increase tax rates. You decide on whom, but someone's gotta pay to build that house or at least buy some land, right? Do you know who owns most of the land in Britain?
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*All* property developments within England and Wales which involve multiple properties are required to have a certain percentage of social housing these days, where the property developer has to hand over the properties to a housing agency at no cost - so local councils already get to increase their available public housing stocks with new property purchasers footing the bill.
How’s that for a tax rise? Most people don’t even know it’s happening....
Of course, you are right that it’s
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"When they physically own the property, I have utterly no problem with them seeking rent. Itâ(TM)s their property. [...] So yeah, you can take your morality stance on Slashdot and shove it."
Then put the morality aside (as you have signaled your willingness to do already) and realize that when it comes to housing, society can only tolerate so much rent-seeking before it breaks down. It distorts the housing market such that people can't afford to buy homes. Then they can't live near jobs so they have to
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Ain't there yet. Now what?
You want to preemptively decide the limit? I do too and mine is different from yours. Again, now what?
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Re: What happens to that $1K/Month (Score:3)
If you are not living in it, they want you to give away to someone who will.
Because they are morons.
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Is that like that "unconscious bigotry" we're always hearing about? You know, where *you* get to decide someone's motivations instead of asking and taking their word? In other words, you're always right, regardless.
That is a baldfaced lie. Hence your use of "even if".
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Renting allows people that might not now or ever be able to save up enough money to put a downpayment on a house, to have a nice place to live.
It provides a service....
Without rentals, what is
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Do you have actual evidence for any of that? The study on the canceled Ontario experiment showed people spending less on tobacco and alcohol, because they were less stressed about everything, not more because they had more money:
https://labourstudies.mcmaster... [mcmaster.ca] (p40)
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In the US is it basically the same way with the same problems. It is slightly more complex because there are multiple government programs, and some programs pay the landlord, but others pay the renter. Same situation exists with other benefits like day care. In some cases, the government program pays under-market values too. My mother was a day care provider, and the people who paid via subsidy were the biggest problem because either they would not pay or they paid late, and the amount was lower than wh
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You mention day care and assistance, which is a problem we also have in the UK and it’s quite perverse...
For about 15 years, the government has offered free weekly 25 hours of day care for most parents, but paid a very low rate for it and day care centres are required to take the vouchers - day care centres have kept themselves afloat by charging higher fees on the next 15 hours a week for those parents working full time, who were basically subsidising the cost for everyone else.
Then the government an
It's worse than that: payday lenders (Score:3, Insightful)
Payday lenders will give people an "advance" on their $1000. Then after a while it's all interest.
The right way to do this is to give people fungible services not cash. That is, if there is something everyone is going to buy anyhow then you give them that for "free". For example, currently the typical silver/gold level medical insurance policy is somewhere around $10-12K per person or 24K/family. Now here I'm summing together the Employees contribution and the employer's contibution. (Obama care policie
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Payday lenders will give people an "advance" on their $1000. Then after a while it's all interest.
From the Ontario experiment:
"Most respondents [90%] who were using payday loan services before indicated less reliance on them during the pilot.
https://labourstudies.mcmaster... [mcmaster.ca] (p51).
Obviously $1000/month UBI won't be able to replace healthcare of course, that has to be solved either way.
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That's not how economics works, bro, at least not directly. If more people can afford housing it increases demand, but I'd say demand is pretty saturated in most places already, $1k/mo isn't going to make a difference in San Francisco or NYC.
It's not like your landlord just twirls his mustache and says "Ahh, I see you have $1k more a month, your rent just went up $1K/month and I forbid you from moving out!!!"
Re: What happens to that $1K/Month (Score:2)
Re: What happens to that $1K/Month (Score:4, Insightful)
Again, no. Your landlord doesn't charge what you'll pay, and your employer doesn't pay you what he thinks you need. The landlord charges you as much as he can up until he can't find someone willing to pay, and your employer pays you as little as they can until they can't find someone to do the work that needs done.
Me knowing that a tenant won the lottery doesn't mean I can suddenly charge them $10k a month for the shithole studio they currently pay $800 a month for.
Nobody is going to give impoverished people "fuck you" money, that's not how reality works.
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The landlord charges you as much as he can up until he can't find someone willing to pay
Yes, and that amount will go up if everybody gets an extra $1000 to spend. If there's a shortage of good housing, then prospective tenants will probably be happy to fork over an extra $200 a month in order to secure that rental contract. Maybe not every tenant, but there will be enough of them to affect the rental market. That's how economics work.
Hell, if it's only your tenant winning the lottery and no one else, he might still be persuaded to pay a higher rent, if he's happy with the place and unwil
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Landlord: "I see UBI has been implemented. I raise your rent $1,000!!!"
Tenent: "Hm, I see an empty place for rent across the street for $1,000 less. Later!"
Re: What happens to that $1K/Month (Score:2)
I see the guy across the street is charging $1000/month more. I will too.
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That doesn't need to happen.
The price of the housing will settle on whatever price causes n = x. That is, the price will be high enough that no more than x people seek
Re: What happens to that $1K/Month (Score:2, Insightful)
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even better would be to tattoo "misogynist cunt" on the foreheads of people like you, so that normal people have advance warning.
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As soon as people start getting a $1K/month basic income, every landlord will raise their rent by that amount. Rich still get richer.
That's not how it works.
For a start, UBI replaces most existing welfare payments, so the poorest are not necessarily a lot better off. Except now they have more incentive to get casual part-time work.
Re: What happens to that $1K/Month (Score:3, Insightful)
Imagine how much incentive they would have to work if the govt stops giving them free stuff.
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You are talking in hypotheticals while there are a ton of studies done on UBI that say the opposite: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
The first thing that pops into your head isn't necessarily the truth.
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"It's impossible to increase real purchasing power in a country".
Also keep in mind that for everyone getting an extra $1k, someone is getting -$1k (or more, probably). It's going to affect the markets somewhat, but this isn't printing money.
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Why do you think that would happen? That is such an obvious and abusive move, it would generate a tremendous amount of backlash and go really, really badly for the landlords.
Case in point: Berlin, the capital of Germany, has passed laws that cap rents, prohibit landlords from raising their rents, and is discussing possibilities to disown (i.e. forcefully buy-out) some especially abusive landlords. All of that a reaction to the ridiculous rent increases in the city.
If you think landlords could do a move like
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I use to be a landlord. I had a tenant on social services. The State sent me a check every month to cover her rent.
Now because I had to negotiate with the State, if I wanted to raise rent it would be a more difficult process, so UBI would allow me to negotiate with the renter. However for the most part I wouldn't want to raise rent by that much, because it would be too expensive for the person, they may not be able to pay rent or leave, leaving a vacant room costing me money.
However this isn't inflation, b
Re: What happens to that $1K/Month (Score:2)
Re: What happens to that $1K/Month (Score:5, Insightful)
In the Silicon Valley, the local potentates are extremely hostile to new construction, and especially to apartment buildings, so the supply is restricted. This is not a free market environment.
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UBI sucks. (Score:2)
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For basically the same effect/benefit, a negative income tax (NIT) works much better, since it utilizes the existing infrastructure. Studies have also shown that it provides more incentive for people to improve themselves.
Which studies, please? What precisely have they shown?
(What do you mean "for the same effect/benefit, NIT works better"? Do you mean that it NIT costs less money to deliver the same benefit? Do you have any sources for this claim? What is the definition of "benefit" you're using here?)
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Which studies, please? What precisely have they shown?
Earned Income Tax Credit: Impact [wikipedia.org]
What do you mean "for the same effect/benefit, NIT works better"?
EITC is a negative income tax based on earned income. You only qualify if you work and in proportion to how much you work. So unlike UBI, it does not disincentivize work. Unlike a minimum wage hike, it targets low-income households (most minimum wage workers are 2nd or 3rd earners in relatively well-off households).
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If no one in your household is employed, EITC won't help you, but it won't hurt you either, so I wouldn't call that a "middle finger".
But if you become ill or stop working to take care of a family member, your household could then qualify for EITC as long as someone else is still working.
EITC is designed to be a helping hand, not a handout.
capitalism is already human centered (Score:3, Insightful)
what an ass this guy, promotes 'human centered capitalism'. Capitalism is plenty human centered already, it is the most human centered system that exists up to date, the system that took more humans out of poverty, increased quality of live, provided things that no other system has ever provided to the most people.
Capitalism is human centered, capitalism is private ownership and operation of property and it means doing things for profit, which means for humans.
Profit = humans. That's because profit is what humans provide a capitalist with when he gives them what they are looking for, wanting, craving, desiring or simply are in need of. No other system can give them that but capitalism does.
Socialism, communism, fascism, totalitarianism, Marxism and other systems that deny human his individual rights (the right to not be enslaved by the collective), these systems can only take away from someone who created so that fruits of his labour are squandered away on political promises. Capitalism and private property protection allows humans to create and to profit from creation by providing other humans with what they need, they have to be creative in return to provide what others need. Capitalism drives innovation, capitalism *is* motivation to innovate, to succeed, not to be a burden, not to be useless but to be a useful member of society.
Andrew Yang will not create useful members of society, he will breed uselessness, poverty, lack of motivation, addiction to handouts and destruction of creativity and of innovation, destruction of economics and of society itself, because without sound economics there will be no society.
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Re: capitalism is already human centered (Score:2)
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only through enlightened self-interest has the common man any hope of having any sort of life with choices
no system is perfect, but it's the only one that has given a net posititve result for the masses
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Good luck (Score:3)
Magical thinking on parade (Score:2)
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Actually the math checks out. You could replace every welfare social program with this and outcomes would be better for everyone. It spreads your existing income from middle age into your educational and retirement years allowing you to actually not worry about feeding and housing yourself when you're trying to get an education.
Let me put it this way. If you could take 10k from your age 35 self and give it to your 20 year old self would you?
I know I sure as hell would.
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In another timeline 20 year old you put $1000 into MSFT in 1994 and ended up with a 100k investment at 46.
In this timeline though you think it sucks.
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Here is how we can pay for it: https://freedom-dividend.com/ [freedom-dividend.com]
And here it's endorsed by Greg Mankiw, world renowed economicst: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Yes, the math checks out, the numbers are shown. Where are your numbers?
Re:Magical thinking on parade (Score:4, Interesting)
Speak for yourself. I'm only 32 and already have 150k worth of investments.
Still support minimum income. Baby boomers need to die already. Ya'll are only capable of one dimensional 20th century thinking.
Exhibit A) You actually think that people on minimum income will stop working. Who wants to live on 12k per year? No one.
Good (Score:3)
Star Trek Economy (Score:4, Insightful)
Most every person I ask thinks that the economy promoted on Star Trek is what the future will really be like. That some day the types of jobs we have today will not exist, because computers and automation will do all of the work for us (hint: its already begun).
Yet those same people seem to be terribly averse to actually trying to create that future.
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I've only seen computers and automation create jobs my whole life; it's a tool that needs a huge infrastructure.
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Most every person I ask thinks that the economy promoted on Star Trek is what the future will really be like. That some day the types of jobs we have today will not exist, because computers and automation will do all of the work for us (hint: its already begun).
Yet those same people seem to be terribly averse to actually trying to create that future.
I think far more work was outsourced than automated. It's a bit of an illusion that so little stuff is still manufactured here. If only there was as much concern for those displaced by outsourcing as there was for those displaced by a utopian future where everything just magically happens.
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Even in Star Trek, the so-called Star Trek economy is a sham. Everywhere the Enterprise goes, crew members are required to use money to trade with people of various worlds. Even on earth, Picard's family owns a farm, and others own homes. If people can own things, they will sometimes want to trade the things they own. Perhaps they could barter, like people did before the invention of money. Or they could use a medium of exchange that allows trade to effortlessly occur between multiple parties, without the n
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Re: Star Trek Economy (Score:2)
It will be assimilated by the collective.
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I'm working on a replicator now, but I'm short on dilithium crystals and antimatter. I'm willing to trade some gold-pressed latinum for it though.
Sweet, as long as he doesn't get to tax me (Score:3)
Sweet, as long as he doesn't get to tax me to pay for his shit.
I’m upper middle class (Score:2)
This money would be coming straight out of my nose. Bloombergs of the world would find a way to offshore their wealth pretty quickly. They didn’t get rich by writing a lot of checks. Whereas I’m a much easier target. So fuck your UBI and the math loving horse it rode in on.
Re: I’m upper middle class (Score:3)
You can if you relocate offshore to a place without it.
In related news (Score:2)
Andrew Yang has finally found the infamous money tree.
Re: In related news (Score:2)
oh ffs. (Score:2)
Use your cash first, Yang. (Score:3)
I hear BeauHD would love to help out if your cash won't stretch.
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California state budget and finances [ballotpedia.org]
Then you just roll the next 9 Zucks and poof!! California and it's Politicians are out of debt.
Just my 2 cents
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I'm a solid conservative and *I* don't want confiscation of Zuckburger's money or anyone else's.