Controversial take re: capitalism (1/4)
I'm a firm believer in free markets. I believe that at the present development level, when it is still impossible to cover all reasonable material needs of the humankind without expending any human labor, this is the best way to make people better off.
HOWEVER, present-day capitalism (as well as dreams of some libertarians) is anything but free markets, and I'm not talking about government intervention there.
I do not believe it is beyond repair though!
Controversial take re: capitalism (2a/4)
Markets are not free now. For example, it is not a free exchange of labor for money, when one has to choose between selling their labor or dying.
There _should_ be an Universal Basic Income that would cover all basic human needs (shelter, food, health, etc).
It would also be much easier to administer than mish-mash of various safety net policies we have now, and not let people slip through the cracks.
It would also reduce inequality!
Controversial take re: capitalism (2b/4)
So let's say there is a flat 50% tax on all income, wages, capital gains etc. (I would gladly pay that tax!)
And it's redistributed to all people, to every single person. Everybody just receives an UBI, it's 50% of average pre-tax income. That would be enough to cover all basic needs.
Then people would choose to work because they like that work, or because they like that extra income, not because they _have_ to for their survival.
@IngaLovinde
> Then people would choose to work because they like that work, or because they like that extra income, not because they _have_ to for their survival.
Well, once upon a time there was this experiment called communism. And it collapsed to a very large extent due to the problem called [Tragedy of commons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons). Non-authoritarian social systems where incentives of individuals to strive are weak (lack of competition) quickly turn into a prey for various opportunists, which then turn into oligarchy.
