For quite some time now Democrats have been pushing for some sort of universal basic income. This was most notably brought up two election cycles ago with Andrew Yang.
Yang ran on a platform that proposed giving everyone a $1,000 per month as a universal basic income. There are several problems with this idea, but I’m not going to go into those right now in depth.
Interestingly, the richest man in the world Elon Musk Has expressed that he is actually in favor of some sort of universal basic income. I’m not quite sure what he has in mind, but we’ve at least got some sort of idea now following his approval of what South Korea has just implemented.
The reason I know that he’s in favor of universal basic income is because he has also expressed that he believes one day it will be necessary rather than a nice idea. He believes that one day work will become so automated that there won’t be enough jobs for people to go to earn money.
I don’t know when this would be. I don’t know if he’s thinking it might be in 10 years or 20 years or 50 years or even longer, but honestly, I can actually see that happening. I think there will be some people who are capable of surviving and thriving because they are innovative enough to adjust to the times, but just like today I think that there will also be some people who are unable to adapt and fall into poverty just like they have now.
Regarding Elon’s opinion of the recent South Korean policy, the Daily Wire reported,
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk lauded a South Korean plan to give a monthly allowance to parents with newborn children.
A budget proposal from lawmakers would combat the nation’s low fertility rate by tripling monthly “parent pay” to 1 million won — roughly $740 — for every newborn child, according to a report from Bloomberg. The stimulus will be reduced by half and run for an additional year once the child turns one.
“Important. South Korea is currently tracking to lose about half its population roughly every generation,” Musk observed on social media. “Long lifespan hides the dire nature of the problem.”
I do believe that there are some groups who get money that don’t deserve it as well as believing that there are some groups who do deserve money and do not get it. I say that from a perspective that’s allowing for our current government handouts. If I had my way the government wouldn’t be stealing as much money as they are now from our pockets. But new parents certainly could use some help.