“the market would immediately adjust and inflate to render the payments far less ameliorative than its recipients would hope”
Where is the data that supports this?
“that trading control of the economy for a few measly dollars would actually disempower us politically; that it’s a trick and a payoff, and we won’t be bribed to abandon the fight for worker power; that we don’t want an allowance, we want to rule the world.”
It’s the opposite. We do not have any power now. Why? We are forced to work to survive. UBI will actually give us an opportunity to fight for worker power. It would give us the means to be more involved politically. How many people can take weeks off of work to go protest something?
Housewives that had a hard time finding meaning is not the same thing as an UBI experiment.
I remember when unemployment lasted 2 years. I know a few people who got into a funk on it. They were losing money - but slowly enough that they didn’t really have to work and could still afford weed.
OTOH I know one girl who totally thrived on it. Did all kinds of projects with friends, spent 100s of hours or something constantly redecorating her place.
Yeah. I think that’s quite a real risk and why UBI should be approached carefully. Socialized services like health care, transportation, even food and housing to some degree might be a lot better than just giving people money. Cutting hours is what we need. Require time and a half after 32 hours instead of 40.
Still building. Maybe some day I’ll find the time to transition to furniture and cabinetry full time. Unless I snap, quit everything and go be a backhoe operator or something. The appeal of just punching a clock is strong these days.
Do you need to be in the house to build the cabinets?
I don’t do cabinets, but I work with a builder who does a lot of them. I think they are more like medium quality, but maybe I could move some fancy New England cabinetry if I find someone who can’t figure out how to spend enough money.
(feel free to move this to the business opportunity thread)
I haven’t done enough cabinet jobs to say what it is I do exactly. I certainly don’t have a portfolio yet that justifies crazy high end stuff that gets shipped across the country. My plan, if I ever find the time, is more along the lines of kitchen islands & carts, sideboards, buffets, etc. Things I can do one-off on spec rather than entire kitchens for clients. Easier to ship too for when I do tap into the massive international kitchen furniture market of the Unstuck Politics forum.
