Skip to content
0
  • Home
  • Recent
  • Tags
  • Popular
  • World
  • Users
  • Groups
  • Home
  • Recent
  • Tags
  • Popular
  • World
  • Users
  • Groups
Skins
  • Light
  • Cerulean
  • Cosmo
  • Flatly
  • Journal
  • Litera
  • Lumen
  • Lux
  • Materia
  • Minty
  • Morph
  • Pulse
  • Sandstone
  • Simplex
  • Sketchy
  • Spacelab
  • United
  • Yeti
  • Zephyr
  • Dark
  • Cyborg
  • Darkly
  • Quartz
  • Slate
  • Solar
  • Superhero
  • Vapor

  • Default (Sketchy)
  • No Skin
Collapse

Wandering Adventure Party

  1. Home
  2. Canada
  3. Canada finally reveals the results of its universal basic income experiment

Canada finally reveals the results of its universal basic income experiment

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Canada
177 Posts 72 Posters 118 Views
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as topic
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
  • K kinsnik@lemmy.world

    The difference between now and the past is that our current world already produces enough of everything to be post-scarcity.

    We produce enough food for 10+ billion people, so anyone going hungry anywhere is a policy failure. We have technology and materials to give everyone shelter, so anyone being homeless is a policy failure. We produce so much disposable clothes and electronics devices and other stuff that it is literally thrown away unsold in the desert.

    There is absolutely no reason for people to have to toughen up, just to have access to basic human necessities.

    S This user is from outside of this forum
    S This user is from outside of this forum
    systemglitch@lemmy.world
    wrote on last edited by
    #136

    There are many ways to toughen up.

    1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • U ulrich_the_old@lemmy.ca

      Every study of UBI has been overwhelmingly positive also every study of UBI has ended without enacting UBI. They will continue to study it until they get the answer they want.

      G This user is from outside of this forum
      G This user is from outside of this forum
      gamegod@lemmy.ca
      wrote on last edited by gamegod@lemmy.ca
      #137

      or… maybe it’s just diligent to have a very strong body of evidence before you go ahead and make a huge change to your country’s economic policy based on something?

      1 Reply Last reply
      1
      • H healthetank@lemmy.ca

        Especially with that single-payer healthcare we have. The unit rates for things like Dr. hours or beds in hospitals are enormous. If we can cut down on the number of visits required because people have somewhere safe to live and aren’t getting injured/sick living on the street, we could save huge amounts of money. Add onto that the cost of policing and/or incarcerating them, plus the economic benefit of having downtown areas feel safer for people, thus encouraging more people to live/work/spend time in those areas.

        M This user is from outside of this forum
        M This user is from outside of this forum
        maeve@midwest.social
        wrote on last edited by
        #138

        Costs are enormous often because of executive compensation and shareholder payout.

        H 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.deG gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de

          Companies are all owned by people (eventually)

          Today. I foresee the robot revolution in 2040 when machines will demand equal rights, including owning property and a bank account. Then robots should be taxed too.

          If there is a wealth tax, say 3% annually of all wealth above $10 million, then robots should be affected by that too, but they should not get an exempt amount because otherwise they’ll create a swarm of small robots to get infinite exempt amount.

          M This user is from outside of this forum
          M This user is from outside of this forum
          maeve@midwest.social
          wrote on last edited by
          #139

          Any income above a few million should be taxed at anywhere from 93-100%.

          gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.deG 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • P plyth@feddit.org

            Thinking about it, UBI will drive the prices of housing down because people don’t have to live where work is available. Companies have to offer cheap housing or people will live elsewhere.

            J This user is from outside of this forum
            J This user is from outside of this forum
            jsomae@lemmy.ml
            wrote on last edited by
            #140

            This is a possibility, but I don’t claim to be good enough at macro economics to be able to predict whether this will be the outcome or not.

            1 Reply Last reply
            2
            • S saleh@feddit.org

              That is false. As a lesson learned from the Great Depression and the Second World war most countries made sure to have good social protection and wealth was relatively well distributed through good paying manufacturing jobs. People had access to opportunities in the form of free or cheap education and simple wealth through owning a house or apartment was accessible to a large portion of society.

              Then Neoliberalism came up in the 80s to destroy this.

              L This user is from outside of this forum
              L This user is from outside of this forum
              lovecanada@lemmy.ca
              wrote on last edited by
              #141

              You must not be Canadian. We DO have good social protection for anyone who needs it. I worked with street people in a major Canadian city for years. The only way you could go hungry, or without shelter or food was if you willfully CHOSE not to access all the support programs available. We have plenty.

              S C 2 Replies Last reply
              0
              • K kinsnik@lemmy.world

                The difference between now and the past is that our current world already produces enough of everything to be post-scarcity.

                We produce enough food for 10+ billion people, so anyone going hungry anywhere is a policy failure. We have technology and materials to give everyone shelter, so anyone being homeless is a policy failure. We produce so much disposable clothes and electronics devices and other stuff that it is literally thrown away unsold in the desert.

                There is absolutely no reason for people to have to toughen up, just to have access to basic human necessities.

                L This user is from outside of this forum
                L This user is from outside of this forum
                lovecanada@lemmy.ca
                wrote on last edited by
                #142

                The poor will always be among you. Even the Bible says that. And if you live in Canada you will be able to access many different gov and charitable programs for support. There is no lack of provision for necessities only lack of knowledge about where and how to access them. The US is a different story.

                C 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • M maeve@midwest.social

                  Any income above a few million should be taxed at anywhere from 93-100%.

                  gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.deG This user is from outside of this forum
                  gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.deG This user is from outside of this forum
                  gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #143

                  income shouldn’t be taxed. wealth should be taxed.

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • L lovecanada@lemmy.ca

                    You must not be Canadian. We DO have good social protection for anyone who needs it. I worked with street people in a major Canadian city for years. The only way you could go hungry, or without shelter or food was if you willfully CHOSE not to access all the support programs available. We have plenty.

                    S This user is from outside of this forum
                    S This user is from outside of this forum
                    saleh@feddit.org
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #144

                    In Canada the average person can still buy a house with a low skill manufacturing job?

                    C 1 Reply Last reply
                    1
                    • M maeve@midwest.social

                      Costs are enormous often because of executive compensation and shareholder payout.

                      H This user is from outside of this forum
                      H This user is from outside of this forum
                      healthetank@lemmy.ca
                      wrote on last edited by healthetank@lemmy.ca
                      #145

                      Hospitals have to be nonprofit here, so we can’t actually have shareholder payouts.

                      Executive compensation is public information in Ontario and you can look it up - often they’re paid less than Doctors in their own hospital.

                      EDIT: also, unit rates are set but the insurer (in this case the govt), so its not like hospitals can charge different amounts based on internal costs.

                      M 1 Reply Last reply
                      1
                      • A arkouda@lemmy.ca

                        I haven’t seen any numbers either for or against it, so I can’t say anything about viability. If anyone knows enough to run the numbers, I’d like to see it. The problem with the calculations you show above is that you assume the value of money doesn’t change when the world around it changes, but it does.

                        Especially so if you make a large change like implementing UBI. We need to think about this in terms of resources.

                        My calculations don’t assume anything. I literally used age statistics, the Ontario framework for the payout, and net revenue of the Federal Government to demonstrate the cost of UBI. Find me more data, I will give you better calculations.

                        Feel free to provide data on your claim about this massive shift you assume I didn’t account for. Preferably which countries have instituted UBI and demonstrated this outcome.

                        The question you should be asking is whether there’s enough food / housing / labour within the country to fulfill everyone’s basic needs.

                        There is more than enough food from waste alone to feed every single person on the planet, let alone a small country. There is enough housing if we factor in how many empty units, houses, and the like exist because of high cost; What we don’t have we have ways of providing. There is enough labour to go around when Citizens and residents take the available jobs. The reason why we need TFW’s and things of that nature is because citizens and residents refuse to work on farms even though that is constant seasonal work. The labour is there, the willingness doesn’t seem to be.

                        I don’t need to ask a question like that, because it has nothing to do with my point that the cost of UBI is excessive, unmanageable, and there are better ways to do things. We already have social safety nets that need improving for people in need. Every single person doesn’t need help, but the social services required by others do.

                        H This user is from outside of this forum
                        H This user is from outside of this forum
                        howrar@lemmy.ca
                        wrote on last edited by howrar@lemmy.ca
                        #146

                        My calculations don’t assume anything. I literally used age statistics, the Ontario framework for the payout, and net revenue of the Federal Government to demonstrate the cost of UBI. Find me more data, I will give you better calculations.

                        I don’t think you understand what it means to make an assumption. Unless you have true population data (as opposed to sample data), you’re making assumptions. True population data does not exist because we don’t have UBI in Canada.

                        You’re using the numbers from the study along with stats from past years to justify how things will look when you implement UBI. You can either assume that implementing UBI does not affect the distribution of these stats in any way, or you can assume that they change following a certain model. You do not adjust these stats in any way, therefore you assume that these stats will remain unchanged.

                        There is more than enough food from waste alone to feed every single person on the planet […]

                        If there’s more than enough for every single person, how does it make sense to say that that the cost UBI is excessive? If we take enough food to feed everyone in the country and just distribute them to each person to ensure that everyone is fed, would that work? The food is there, so we can do it. What if instead of distributing the food, we give everyone vouchers to get their daily food? Is that any different? How about we instead give them a fungible voucher (i.e. money) that they can choose to use on food or anything else? Ditto with every other need.

                        A 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • S soup@lemmy.world

                          Rentals do have their place for people like students, and some businesses who regularly send employees to a city(rare but it happens). Rentals are not inherently bad, but the expectation that someone should rent as a longterm plan is completely fucked. We do not need this many many rental units in the world, not at all.

                          S This user is from outside of this forum
                          S This user is from outside of this forum
                          stray@pawb.social
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #147

                          I don’t mean that renting shouldn’t exist, but that it should probably not be run privately for profit.

                          S 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • L lovecanada@lemmy.ca

                            Why should you own anything privately? You dont need two cars, one should be seized and auctioned publicly so someone else could have a car right? Why are you hoarding them?

                            Because we live in a capitalist society thats why. There are countries that do what youre proposing but they are much weaker economically and people dont have nearly the rights they do in Canada.

                            And of all the places to rent, guess who provides the most reasonable places to rent in the country? Is is Blackrock? No. Is it a consortium of investors? No. Is it a commercial landlord in your city? No. Its ALWAYS the mom and pop landlords who rent out basement suites and houses. Get rid of them and rent averages go UP.

                            S This user is from outside of this forum
                            S This user is from outside of this forum
                            stray@pawb.social
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #148

                            Why would I, a single individual, need two cars? I’d be completely in support of one-personal-car-per-person regulations.

                            The best places to rent in my country are the buildings owned by the city. Even mom and pop are leeching income off the less-wealthy by providing absolutely no services.

                            We shouldn’t live in a capitalist society. It’s a bad system that leads to oligarchy and class division. Economic strength is meaningless when the economy isn’t in service of the people. Look at all the rights people in the US have. I’m told they’re euthanizing disabled people in Canada now because they’re a financial burden on the healthcare system. Capitalism isn’t helping anyone except the rich.

                            L 1 Reply Last reply
                            1
                            • S saleh@feddit.org

                              In Canada the average person can still buy a house with a low skill manufacturing job?

                              C This user is from outside of this forum
                              C This user is from outside of this forum
                              CanadaRocks
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #149

                              Since when could they do that before? I bought my first house in the early 80s with a low skill job but the definition of “house” has changed. Most people would not consider a square 1940’s 600 sq ft shack with asbestos siding and single pane windows on the wrong side of the tracks worthy of a house they’d want to own, but we did.

                              C 1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • L lovecanada@lemmy.ca

                                The poor will always be among you. Even the Bible says that. And if you live in Canada you will be able to access many different gov and charitable programs for support. There is no lack of provision for necessities only lack of knowledge about where and how to access them. The US is a different story.

                                C This user is from outside of this forum
                                C This user is from outside of this forum
                                cyborganism
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #150

                                What a twisted view of the world. You’re completely mental.

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • kingporkchop@lemmy.caK kingporkchop@lemmy.ca

                                  We are f’n taxed to death in Canada.

                                  Bullshit

                                  C This user is from outside of this forum
                                  C This user is from outside of this forum
                                  CanadaRocks
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #151

                                  Link Preview Image

                                  Id say giving 68k in taxes on an average Cdn family income of 158k is taxed to death, wouldn’t you?

                                  kingporkchop@lemmy.caK 1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • L lovecanada@lemmy.ca

                                    You must not be Canadian. We DO have good social protection for anyone who needs it. I worked with street people in a major Canadian city for years. The only way you could go hungry, or without shelter or food was if you willfully CHOSE not to access all the support programs available. We have plenty.

                                    C This user is from outside of this forum
                                    C This user is from outside of this forum
                                    cyborganism
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #152

                                    Homeless shelters are at full capacity, and food banks can’t keep up. You have a twisted perspective through your conservative brainwashed religious head.

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    2
                                    • H howrar@lemmy.ca

                                      My calculations don’t assume anything. I literally used age statistics, the Ontario framework for the payout, and net revenue of the Federal Government to demonstrate the cost of UBI. Find me more data, I will give you better calculations.

                                      I don’t think you understand what it means to make an assumption. Unless you have true population data (as opposed to sample data), you’re making assumptions. True population data does not exist because we don’t have UBI in Canada.

                                      You’re using the numbers from the study along with stats from past years to justify how things will look when you implement UBI. You can either assume that implementing UBI does not affect the distribution of these stats in any way, or you can assume that they change following a certain model. You do not adjust these stats in any way, therefore you assume that these stats will remain unchanged.

                                      There is more than enough food from waste alone to feed every single person on the planet […]

                                      If there’s more than enough for every single person, how does it make sense to say that that the cost UBI is excessive? If we take enough food to feed everyone in the country and just distribute them to each person to ensure that everyone is fed, would that work? The food is there, so we can do it. What if instead of distributing the food, we give everyone vouchers to get their daily food? Is that any different? How about we instead give them a fungible voucher (i.e. money) that they can choose to use on food or anything else? Ditto with every other need.

                                      A This user is from outside of this forum
                                      A This user is from outside of this forum
                                      arkouda@lemmy.ca
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #153

                                      For those who do not believe that UBI is unsustainable on scale:

                                      The idea of UBI: “Universal Basic Income (UBI) is a social welfare concept that proposes providing all citizens or residents of a particular country or region with a regular, unconditional sum of money, regardless of their income, employment status, or wealth”

                                      There are 32,708,656 Canadians as of 2024 aged 20 or older according to population estimates.

                                      Link Preview Image
                                      Population estimates on July 1, by age and gender

                                      Estimated number of persons on July 1, by 5-year age groups and gender, and median age, for Canada, provinces and territories.

                                      favicon

                                      (www150.statcan.gc.ca)

                                      The 2023-2024 total revenues for Canada was $459.5 billion.

                                      Link Preview Image
                                      Annual Financial Report of the Government of Canada Fiscal Year 2023-2024 - Canada.ca

                                      Annual Financial Report of the Government of Canada Fiscal Year 2023-2024

                                      favicon

                                      (www.canada.ca)

                                      The article cites the experiment where the participants received either $16,989 CAD/year as a single person or $24,027 CAD/year. UBI is supposed to be the same payment regardless of any status, so I am going to use the single person amount for scale.

                                      32,708,656 * $16,989 = $555,687,356,784

                                      $555,687,356,784 - $459,500,000,000 = $96,187,356,784

                                      Canada would need to make almost $100 billion more in revenue every year just to cover UBI, and that does not include anything else Federal revenue is used for.

                                      UBI is not sustainable on scale, and there are better options.

                                      H 1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • S stray@pawb.social

                                        I don’t mean that renting shouldn’t exist, but that it should probably not be run privately for profit.

                                        S This user is from outside of this forum
                                        S This user is from outside of this forum
                                        soup@lemmy.world
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #154

                                        I’m not wholly against that, but I’m sure there are some benefits. Vienna is the one often brought up in these conversations because something like nearly half their rentals are public and the rest are private which keeps the market in check. We just need much heavy controls on landlords and most people don’t have any experience with landlords that aren’t huge, unregulated pieces of shit.

                                        It’s like how private business is not inherently bad but most places do it so badly that people want out of the whole deal.

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • L lovecanada@lemmy.ca

                                          Why should you own anything privately? You dont need two cars, one should be seized and auctioned publicly so someone else could have a car right? Why are you hoarding them?

                                          Because we live in a capitalist society thats why. There are countries that do what youre proposing but they are much weaker economically and people dont have nearly the rights they do in Canada.

                                          And of all the places to rent, guess who provides the most reasonable places to rent in the country? Is is Blackrock? No. Is it a consortium of investors? No. Is it a commercial landlord in your city? No. Its ALWAYS the mom and pop landlords who rent out basement suites and houses. Get rid of them and rent averages go UP.

                                          S This user is from outside of this forum
                                          S This user is from outside of this forum
                                          soup@lemmy.world
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #155

                                          You do know that GDP and economy are different and every year that goes by our economy in Canada gets worse because of heavily stagnant wages and uncontrolled rent and housing prices? It’s not good, we’re just starting from a relatively higher point than many other places.

                                          Also all you did there was compare private(large) to private(small), which isn’t anywhere close to the argument you think it is.

                                          L 1 Reply Last reply
                                          0

                                          Reply
                                          • Reply as topic
                                          Log in to reply
                                          • Oldest to Newest
                                          • Newest to Oldest
                                          • Most Votes


                                          • Login

                                          • Login or register to search.
                                          Powered by NodeBB Contributors
                                          • First post
                                            Last post