LogFAQs > #950258700

ssjevot posted...

Guaranteed Minimum Income. There are many ways to do it, but the key is that everyone is guaranteed enough money, regardless of work status, to live a life above the poverty line. Minimum wage is pointless if we have a GMI because people now have an alternative to wage labor for survival. Companies have to pay a decent wage or people just won't work. Currently there is no viable alternative to working for most people so they accept incredibly low wages as a means of survival. Raising the minimum wage leaves a lot of people in various situations struggling and hand waves the issue of what if there aren't enough jobs available. It seems people can accept the idea that a job should have to pay a living wage but any concern about people who cannot get a job is somehow overlooked.

Is GMI distinct from UBI in any way or just an alternate term for it?

The issue with a UBI (especially alongside automation) is that it continues the wage relation in a new form without addressing the inherent contradictions of class in capitalist society. Essentially, you would be continuing the working class' reliance on wages while also taking away the primary means they have to negotiate those wages and the meager concessions they have gained: their labor. The need for working class labor to make this entire economy run is the most important bargaining chip working people have. A UBI alongside the loss of most wage labor due to automation would only cement inequality, rather than lead to a more egalitarian outcome.

That said, its still obviously a good temporary solution that would improve the lives of many people. Im just saying its not a long-term one.

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"If you wanna grow your business you need to exploit more." ~Austin_Era_II
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