And consider the fact that there are reportedly billionaires out there who are officially poor in that they show no IRS income. But they sure as hell have a lot of assets which they can borrow against, at interest rates less than tax rates to keep them afloat — on their yachts.
There is another scenario giving me nightmares right now. Jeff Bezos once flagged Universal Basic Income (UBI) as the inevitable outcome for the U.S. when—not if—automation triggers a massive job shortage. He suggested the government will have no choice but to cut monthly checks to millions of citizens. Unlike current stipends targeted at specific levels of poverty, he wasn't identifying anyone by race, sex, or employment status—he was stating this universal subsidy as a factual, mathematical inevitability.
Watching the exponential growth of AI right now, I’m viewing this shift very suspiciously. Do all of these "tech bros" share this mindset? It would certainly explain why they aren't worried about displacement math or how everyday people will survive once the full weight of this tech hits.
And if the tech bro billionaires continue to avoid paying taxes, where will this money magically come from? Can I have seeds for one of those money trees?
I'm reading The Sovereign Individual right now, which is the philosophy undergirding their vision in The Nerd Reich. They may be tech savvy but I can tell you their knowledge of the psychosocial aspects of human beings and how that interacts with their "spreadsheet lines" and AI Code is pathetically lacking.
You won’t need food assistance if you paid people to what they are worth to their employer. There will always be the “undeserving poor” as you classify them. Yet they are still human beings who most people would not begrudge helping if governments stopped using such classifications. We give money to famine relief, are they underserving? We give money individually to many groups because we understand that if we do so it makes us better human beings.
You say that being a single parent means that you only have one income so you should naturally be poorer. Then how do you explain that in the 50’s through to the late 70’s only one family member worked, usually the male. The females took care of the children and they were still able to afford two cars a house and a holiday each year without going into debt. It really meant that females regardless of their job always earned less than their male counterparts. So we punished women who got divorced. We rarely punished the fathers for not paying their fair share to support their children. Your father in law was correct. Just give them money or better still, as most people don’t like handouts, pay them what they are worth. If their work allows the company owners to upgrade their homes and their jets each year then surely it stands to reason that they are not paying their workers for their efforts.
And consider the fact that there are reportedly billionaires out there who are officially poor in that they show no IRS income. But they sure as hell have a lot of assets which they can borrow against, at interest rates less than tax rates to keep them afloat — on their yachts.
That was thorough; thank you!
There is another scenario giving me nightmares right now. Jeff Bezos once flagged Universal Basic Income (UBI) as the inevitable outcome for the U.S. when—not if—automation triggers a massive job shortage. He suggested the government will have no choice but to cut monthly checks to millions of citizens. Unlike current stipends targeted at specific levels of poverty, he wasn't identifying anyone by race, sex, or employment status—he was stating this universal subsidy as a factual, mathematical inevitability.
Watching the exponential growth of AI right now, I’m viewing this shift very suspiciously. Do all of these "tech bros" share this mindset? It would certainly explain why they aren't worried about displacement math or how everyday people will survive once the full weight of this tech hits.
And if the tech bro billionaires continue to avoid paying taxes, where will this money magically come from? Can I have seeds for one of those money trees?
I'm reading The Sovereign Individual right now, which is the philosophy undergirding their vision in The Nerd Reich. They may be tech savvy but I can tell you their knowledge of the psychosocial aspects of human beings and how that interacts with their "spreadsheet lines" and AI Code is pathetically lacking.
Agreed!
Brilliant lesson, Justin! Thank you.
You won’t need food assistance if you paid people to what they are worth to their employer. There will always be the “undeserving poor” as you classify them. Yet they are still human beings who most people would not begrudge helping if governments stopped using such classifications. We give money to famine relief, are they underserving? We give money individually to many groups because we understand that if we do so it makes us better human beings.
You say that being a single parent means that you only have one income so you should naturally be poorer. Then how do you explain that in the 50’s through to the late 70’s only one family member worked, usually the male. The females took care of the children and they were still able to afford two cars a house and a holiday each year without going into debt. It really meant that females regardless of their job always earned less than their male counterparts. So we punished women who got divorced. We rarely punished the fathers for not paying their fair share to support their children. Your father in law was correct. Just give them money or better still, as most people don’t like handouts, pay them what they are worth. If their work allows the company owners to upgrade their homes and their jets each year then surely it stands to reason that they are not paying their workers for their efforts.