3. Universal Basic Income
Life under UBI: Work, hobbies, and wellbeing without work
Developing a comprehensive UBI implementation plan" could be considered a key topic, as it would involve studying the most effective ways to design and implement a UBI program. This would help people adapt to the cultural transformation that is AI, as it would provide a safety net for those who might lose their jobs to automation and elp them to transition to new roles.
The key idea of the video is that Universal Basic Income (UBI) has the potential to improve individuals' financial well-being, reduce expenses, and provide more free time for personal growth and human connection.
Universal Basic Income (UBI) could have a significant impact on individuals, with potential benefits including job automation, reduced healthcare costs, and incentivizing population growth, but challenges such as high rent and changing economic conditions would need to be addressed.
In this video, the speaker discusses the potential impact of Universal Basic Income (UBI) on individuals, specifically the idea of every American receiving $2000 a month starting at age 18.
Assuming heavily subsidized or free healthcare, and with an estimated unemployment rate of 70%, the speaker discusses the potential impact of AI on job automation and the cost of healthcare.
Parents would receive a reduced UBI per child to avoid incentivizing excessive childbirth, while also incentivizing population growth in countries experiencing population decline.
Assuming a state of economic abundance and redistribution within the existing framework, Universal Basic Income (UBI) fits within capitalism and neoliberalism, as it involves taxing and redistributing without state ownership.
Assuming stable prices, with a monthly UBI of $2000, budgeting becomes a challenge due to high rent and changing economic conditions.
Reducing housing and car expenses is crucial for financial well-being, and with downsizing and the popularity of tiny houses, a Universal Basic Income (UBI) of $1400 per month could be feasible, but regulations and zoning laws need to be updated to accommodate this shift.
Housing and car expenses are the biggest financial burdens for most people, and finding a way to reduce these costs is crucial for improving overall financial well-being.
If housing costs can be reduced and healthcare is subsidized, a Universal Basic Income (UBI) of $1400 per month could be feasible, with downsizing and the popularity of tiny houses contributing to the affordability of housing.
The demand for smaller houses is creating new markets, but regulations and zoning laws need to be updated in order to accommodate a shift to a UBI and allow for the construction of tiny houses.
Living in a van full-time can be a cost-effective lifestyle choice, but it also comes with challenges such as safety, finding a permanent address, and the high cost of owning a vehicle.
Micro apartments are expensive but in demand, leading to potential pressure for more affordable options; American suburbs can be redesigned for alternative living like co-housing; combining finances under UBI allows for larger houses; challenges of finding compatible roommates but social advantages seen during the pandemic.
Micro apartments are becoming increasingly popular but are often expensive and not optimized for affordability, however, as demand increases, there may be more pressure for cities and corporations to accommodate this housing option.
American suburbs were designed after World War II and can be redesigned again to find alternative ways of living, such as co-living or co-housing.
Co-housing and co-living communities can be expensive and potentially dangerous, but there are successful examples in Europe and a trend of combining finances to live in larger houses called mommunes.
Moms and friends can combine households to increase their income and afford a nice house under Universal Basic Income.
Finding the right people to live with can be challenging, as some may end up with toxic roommates or partners, but there are social advantages to joining forces and living together, as seen during the pandemic.
Prioritizing walkability in cities and updating zoning laws can reduce housing and transportation costs, while the rise of ride-sharing and automated cities could decrease the need for car ownership and lower the cost of living.
Reduce housing costs by updating zoning laws, prioritize walkability in cities to reduce transportation costs and prioritize pedestrians over cars.
There are numerous projects worldwide experimenting with walkable cities and urban revitalization, with a focus on green spaces and walkability.
Paris is a sprawling city where you don't need a car.
Combining micro apartments or co-living situations with walkability in fully automated cities, along with the rise of ride-sharing and fleets of Robo taxis, could significantly reduce the cost of living and ownership for automobiles.
Living in rural areas with affordable housing options like tiny houses can provide a sustainable lifestyle under UBI, while local goods and services will still be in demand and certain services like health and wellness and education are less likely to be automated.
People who prefer living in rural areas can benefit from the emergence of tiny house communities and RV communities on cheap rural land, which will be planned around sustainability and allow individuals to live comfortably on UBI.
Living in the countryside with HOAs and affordable housing options like tiny houses can provide a lower cost of living and a more sustainable lifestyle under UBI.
Local goods and services will still be in demand and people will be willing to pay for them, even if robots can do the job.
Health and wellness services, such as fitness coaching, personal training, and massage therapy, as well as education and mentoring, are less likely to be automated due to the need for human touch and empathy.
Online learning will be partially replaced by chat GPT, but certain classes and skills, as well as experiences like performances and entertainment, will still be better taught or enjoyed by humans due to our social nature.
People will continue to value and seek out jobs that involve human interaction, such as child care and pet care, as well as local goods and services, online content creators, and personalized assistance, while also finding ways to reduce costs and make better use of free time through various strategies.
Jobs in child care, elder care, and pet care are unlikely to be fully automated as people prefer human interaction and animals may not respond well to robots, making these jobs resilient.
People will continue to value and seek out local goods and services such as gardening, cooking, and handmade crafts, as well as online content creators.
Influencers and streamers will continue to be popular because people are drawn to the authenticity and realness of human experiences, even in a digital age.
People can make money online through ads, crowdfunding, and subscription-based services like Patreon, where individuals can connect with coaches and trainers for personalized assistance.
Paid dungeon masters and other human-run services may be replaced by automated technologies, but there will still be a demand for human involvement, especially with the implementation of UBI.
Reduce costs through housing and transportation, utilize tool sharing libraries and maker spaces, practice circular economics and clothing exchanges, and engage in community-based donations and bartering to further reduce costs and make better use of free time.
Living under UBI raises concerns about finding enjoyment, mastery, and self-esteem without work, but UBI can potentially provide more free time for people to connect with others, pursue personal growth, and meet higher-level needs for human well-being.
Living under UBI raises concerns about finding enjoyment, mastery, and self-esteem without work.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a framework that outlines the importance of satisfying physiological and safety needs before addressing higher-level needs.
Meeting basic needs such as love, belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization is crucial for human well-being, and UBI can potentially provide more free time for people to connect with others and pursue personal growth.
The TLC framework suggests that engaging in spirituality, giving back through volunteering, and spending time in nature can contribute to a better life and increased self-esteem.
With UBI, individuals have more time for recreational activities, hobbies, and building relationships, leading to a sense of mastery and overall wellbeing.
With UBI, individuals have more time for recreational activities, rest and relaxation, cooking, improving diet and nutrition, exercising, and building relationships.
Maintaining psychological well-being without a conventional career involves fulfilling intrinsic needs for autonomy, competence, and connection through hobbies and relationships.
Gaming, particularly in the potential future of full dive virtual reality, can be a social and enjoyable activity, but it also has potential downsides such as screen time health issues, addiction, and a potential disconnect from self-actualization, although competitive gaming can still provide a sense of reaching one's full potential.
Engaging in hobbies and activities such as boat racing, building, cooking, outdoor challenges, and competitive sports can provide a sense of mastery and fulfillment, and with more free time under UBI, people can pursue these activities without the need to work.
If UBI was implemented, the speaker would prioritize hiking the Appalachian Trail, and they discuss the benefits of fitness and the usefulness of meetup.com for finding like-minded individuals and support groups.
Engaging in various hobbies and connecting with others who share the same interests can lead to a sense of mastery and overall wellbeing, making life under UBI more exciting and enjoyable.
Personal Fulfillment and Wellbeing under UBI
🌱 UBI may encourage individuals to prioritize a simpler, more self-sufficient lifestyle, focusing on sustainability rather than materialistic pursuits.
🌳 The availability of walkable cities for those who prefer urban living and tiny house villages in the countryside can provide diverse housing options and cater to different lifestyle preferences under a universal basic income.
🐶 Pets may have negative reactions to robots, making human pet walkers a preferred choice for many pet owners.
🖥️ Online and remote content creators will continue to thrive under UBI, showcasing the potential for individuals to pursue creative and entrepreneurial endeavors without traditional employment.
🧠 Humans have a natural desire to learn from and empathize with other humans, making realness and authenticity important factors in content consumption.
🌐 The implementation of Universal Basic Income (UBI) could potentially provide individuals with the financial stability to pursue hobbies and interests that may not be financially lucrative but are personally fulfilling.
🤔 The video raises the question of how individuals would find a sense of challenge and fulfillment without traditional employment under UBI.
🌟 Self-actualization, the impulse to become the best version of oneself, is a fundamental need that still needs to be fulfilled even under UBI.
🚶♀️ UBI enables individuals to prioritize their physical and mental health by having more time for recreational activities, rest, relaxation, and exercise.
Lifestyle and Housing under UBI
💰 The implementation of UBI could potentially alleviate the burden of high housing and car expenses, allowing individuals to have more financial freedom.
💰 With a Universal Basic Income (UBI) and reduced expenses like housing and transportation, individuals would have more financial freedom for other aspects of their lives.
💰 Combining households under UBI can provide a guaranteed income of $8,000 to $12,000 per month, allowing for a higher quality of life and the ability to afford a nice house.
🚶 Walkable cities can help reduce transportation costs and prioritize pedestrians over cars, potentially improving the overall quality of life.
🚶♂️ UBI can potentially reduce the need for cars as people can live in close-knit communities where they can easily walk to their neighbors and access necessary services.
Economic Impact of UBI
💰 "Every American gets two thousand dollars a month. No questions asked starting at age 18."
🤔 The concept of using UBI to incentivize desired behaviors, such as having children, sparks debate about the role of government in shaping population growth.
Pinned by 4IR with David Shapiro
Post Labor Economics for more of the macro-economic perspective: https://youtu.be/9yN7885s5rA
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We need to start a ai apocalypse dating website or something cuz it’s really hard to find someone who cares about this stuff lol
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When you zoom out from this scenario, it looks like a charitable version of Elysium or the Hunger Games (without the games). First, a ton of respect for the thought and effort you put into your work David, and I enjoy watching, so this isn't a criticism. This video is still relevant and comes from a good place, but it's also worthy of a sequel. The larger picture I see is a separation of societies far bigger and more consequential than what we have today. It's not the worst outcome, but it's still masses of people living on a subsistence wage in micro apartments, tiny homes, and communes with zero upward mobility because the even more rich, privileged, and powerful control and own everything. With armies of Tesla Optimus-bots or whatever they have, along with AI, they live in Panem-like cities from The Hunger Games, travel the world in mega yachts, and for all intents and purposes, own the future. If we reach that point, it's pretty easy to imagine the potential bad outcomes. One obvious outcome is hundreds of millions of people (billions globally) surviving on the good will of an unbelievably rich and powerful society that doesn't need them anymore. For sure this isn't the only potential outcome. These technologies are not going to come online all at once, so the future will likely be messy. Some jobs will get automated relatively soon, much like jobs have been automated in the past. And for a while, society and the economy may absorb those losses without much change. Many trades and jobs in medicine, for example, like nursing, dental hygienists, etc. are probably safe for a long time. We're still years away from a robot that can do what a nurse or an electrician needs to do every day, and when (and if) we reach that point, manufacturing and supplying those robots at scale will still be somewhat of a challenge. Meanwhile, in the years that lead up to that, we'll probably have regulations that protect workers in some way because automation in another area (like autonomous driving) arrived and caused so much disruption and a potential economic collapse, that we've had no choice but to put future safeguards in place. At any rate, it'll be an interesting future.
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Hi i know you probably can’t edit a video after uploading it. But I want to recommend that you discuss the effect AI could have on those that have disabilities. For me being deaf, blind. I use chat, GPT and other AI technology to help me with my challenges.
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Your content is amazing, such high quality! I have believed this future potential was coming since 2010, it’s amazing to see it actually playing out in real time. Thank you for keeping us up to speed with your presentations!
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Sadly, UBI will not be a thing with the current political climate even though it will be needed and is probably needed now tbh. Reaganomics and trickle-down economics is the rule-of-the-day and will be so in the foreseeable future. In order to fund UBI, as you mentioned, would be done through the redistribution of wealth from corporations to the civilians and since the corporations won't like giving their profits away, they will just have any laws/regulations related to it to be buried by bribing (I mean, lobbying) the politicians. Honestly, if I was a betting person, I'd place my bets on the future being a dystopia since there are too many corporate interests involved.
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This would work for me. About half my income comes from Patreon supporters and half from local business sponsors and this level of UBI would really help me buy better equipment and reliable transportation and attract more supporters. I would also like to do some square-foot gardening for fun and to share food. I just ran a fund raiser to get my van fixed, and I will be able to assemble the items needed to build a couple of squares for the summer and fall growing season.
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Thank you once again David for your excellent and thorough research I've directed quite a few friends and family towards your channel so far keep up the excellent work. :)
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If AI is not a threat, it could truly transform the planet and life in an extraordinarily positive way. I also keep thinking about the 1951 sci-fi film The Day the Earth Stood Still where robots were given full authority to prevent violence and war.
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Very insightful, comprehensive, and well thought out. Thank you so much for your content!
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A week or so ago GPT-4 wrote a random story that sound similar to your future prediction lol here is the first chapter: Chapter 1: The Quantum Carousel In the year 3095, I, Vern, existed in a world where death was a forgotten tale, a relic of the past. Mortality was a conquered enemy, vanquished by the triumphant forces of advanced healthcare and A.I. Our bodies, delicate and susceptible, were safely tucked away, connected to a source that shielded us, nourished us, and granted us eternal youth. We navigated the world through bio-robotic bodies, our chosen avatars, impervious to pain, disease, and decay. But the real thrill, the real escapade, was the Quantum Carousel. It was a wonder, a machine that could upload your consciousness into a virtual reality, a different existence. It was a game of chance, a lottery that decided the narrative of your virtual life. You could be anyone, do anything, live any life. The catch? Your memory was wiped clean, and you were reborn in the virtual world, a newborn baby with no recollection of your past life. I was always a curious man, even at the ripe age of 185, always probing, always yearning to know more. The Quantum Carousel intrigued me. The idea of living a different life, of being someone else, was exhilarating. I yearned to experience it, to feel it. So, on my 186th birthday, I decided to take the plunge. I decided to ride the Quantum Carousel. The process was straightforward. You were connected to the Quantum Carousel, a colossal, gleaming machine that held the power to transform your life. You were given a holographic scroll, a random script that dictated your virtual life. I remember holding my scroll, a shimmering hologram that held my future. I could have been anyone, born with any condition, in any era. I could have been a baby with Down syndrome, a child born sick and destined to die at birth, or a person who lived to old age as a farmer, only to get hit by a car. I could have been any race or ethnicity, rich or poor, healthy or sick. Everything was random, everything was possible. But my script was different. I was going to be a farmer, living in a rural setting in the late 1800s. It was a simple life, far removed from the high-tech world I was accustomed to. But I was thrilled. I was ready for the adventure. As I was connected to the Quantum Carousel, I felt a peculiar sensation, a feeling of disconnection, of detachment. Then, everything went dark. The next thing I knew, I was opening my eyes to a new world, a new life. I was no longer Vern, the curious man from the futuristic world. I was now Vern, the newborn, destined to grow into a farmer, living a simple life in the countryside of the late 1800s. In our world of eternal life and endless resources, one might wonder why anyone would choose to leave. Why would anyone choose to abandon the comfort and security of our advanced society for a life of uncertainty and potential hardship in a virtual world? The answer was simple: boredom. Immortality, it turned out, was not all it was cracked up to be. With every need catered to, every desire fulfilled, life became predictable, monotonous. The thrill of adventure, the joy of discovery, the satisfaction of overcoming challenges – all were lost in our world of eternal comfort and security. We yearned for something more, something different. We yearned for the unknown, the unpredictable. And the Quantum Carousel offered just that. The Quantum Carousel was not just a machine; it was a gateway to a world of endless possibilities. It offered a chance to experience life in all its raw, unfiltered glory – the joy, the pain, the love, the loss. It offered a chance to live a life that was truly lived, not just merely existed. And so, on my 186th birthday, I found myself standing before the Quantum Carousel, ready to embark on a journey into the unknown. I held my holographic scroll, the script of my new life, in my hand. I was going to be a farmer, living in a rural setting in the late 1800s. It was a life far removed from the high-tech, immortal world I was used to. But I was ready. I was ready for the adventure, ready for the challenges, ready for the life that awaited me. As I was connected to the Quantum Carousel, I felt a strange sensation, a feeling of disconnection, of detachment. Then, everything went dark. The next thing I knew, I was opening my eyes to a new world, a new life. I was no longer Vern, the curious man from the futuristic world. I was now Vern, the newborn, destined to grow into a farmer, living a simple life in the countryside of the late 1800s.
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Not sure if you mentioned it but Time Banking is a very interesting solution for people to still work and feel connected to producing their own value. May end up being vital while people get adjusted to this new style of living.
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Lots of good ideas in this one. Yup, we're gonna have to make some changes to make it all work, but a lot of those could be fun and rewarding. I've made a few, probably gonna have to make a bunch more. Thanks for the video.
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My fear with UBI is that prices will be driven up by it, especially housing. It may be if you want to live the “UBI lifestyle” that you’re either shacking up with eight roommates or avoiding urban life entirely. It could also be the case that urban centers are abandoned as rural areas grow, since we’d no longer be tied to cities for specific job markets (e.g. programmers living in West coast cities.) Remote work could also have this effect.
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I've thought about the idea that when we can automate every task, what value could humans provide to the economy? It's their humanity. Their values, their preferences, their appearance (language, voice, motion patterns), everything that distinguishes humanity as a whole, individuals specifically or groups of them, from just any conceivable sentience, or from each other. And it's funny because it's already happening. It's how social media make their profits. It's how AI is trained. Human labor is providing this information, usually without or with minor compensation, but it is still something that has to be done. And as of yet, it cannot be fully automated, because simulating humans without human input is well beyond contemporary computational capabilities. And you have to keep doing this, as humanity changes, culture changes, even our bodies change.
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There are lots of small towns in America with populations of less than 1000. They are very walkable with grocery stores, restaurants, parks, schools, etc. Large lots could be purchased and revamped to create the "coaster" communities you mentioned. With how spread out the current houses are, it would be possible to triple the populations without expanding the borders of the towns.
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I made a video on it as well. Interestingly high numbers. I personally think it should probably start low, in general for public support purposes, but also lower by age that increases by age. And removing minimum wage. More may be possible, but the job = honor feeling is really strong. Interesting what AI may do.
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I’ve been to a few countries in Europe. St Petersburg getting around on the metro wasn’t difficult to learn. The door opens and the marble on the wall in the station is different in every stop. On the street you stick your right arm out palm down and someone maybe a taxi will take you where you want to go after negotiating price. Germany has an awesome train system as well as local trams. The train system is awesome in Europe and Russia .
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I think it's important to stay grounded and realize that much of these kinds of discussions are a result of being inside an AI information bubble. The only reason for UBI is if all jobs are taken over by AI, however many smart people predict that AI will generate as many jobs as have those who need to transition to something else. So the part where a government is convinced to doll out money is probably not going to ever actually happen. An AI utopia where we don't have to work, or where AI's spell the doom of the human race (of where AI becomes a God and saves humanity for that matter) are all extremes. The truth will most likely lie somewhere in the middle.
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I so appreciate the definition of the difference between socialism versus a Ubi. It is a real pet peeve of mine out there in the world where people misuse socialism all the time is it things like social security Medicare and so forth are not socialism especially when you take into consideration that even though Medicare pays for medical care it is private Enterprise it provides the doctors or hospitals and so forth and the research thank you thank you so much for such an intelligent and articulate definition for a lot of the people who may be unclear on this
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I have been living for around 10 years now under those conditions David painted to us - survival guaranteed income of ~$2-3k, infinite free time. From my experience not much of the fancy sounding stuff has ever happened. You can easily spend +8 hours a day: +2h sleep, 2h walking around the house doing practically nothing, 2h shopping and cooking, 2h social media online or games. I don't think many people will have the motivation and willpower to do almost any of those things.. except the VR plug.
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This is going to be an Awesome episode!
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Some thoughts: 1. All this will take many years to come about, due to the scale of the task. 2. The first rich countries introducing UBI will atrract milions and millions of illegal immigrants. 3. Most people have few ambitions. Free money & free time will lead to mental issues, addictions etc. 4. Society wil divide into the workers (high paid, well educated) and the workless. 5. Robots will take time to be built. In the meantime, humans will be hired (or told) by AIs to do physical work. 6. A UBI world will be a Petri dish where the losers, freeloaders, violent, people, criminals, extremists etc will have the money & time to exploit the new society. TBH I suspect that a UBI world would turn into a failed state, with well-armed gated communities of the still useful people.
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It's ironic that AI might end up doing all the interesting work leaving humans to decend into a race of rustic craftsmen and farmers. There's this neat narrative arc in which our species ascends from simple hunter gatherers toward technological sophistication to the point where we create AGI then slowly reverts back again to the point that we may no longer even understand the machines that come to run our world sounds like a lot of the golden age sci fi I read as a kid. In reality I suspect that the 'useless eaters' meme may overtake this more positive outcome as those in control work out that they have absolutely no use whatsoever for the redundant millions that clutter up their world and continue to drain it's dwindling resources, even as they add very little economic value to it's future. Cue your favourite dystopian varient of 'soylent green.'
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I'm just waiting. I'm already psychologically and socially optimized for this. At 2k per month, I'd continue to work on metaverse environments to sell as NFTs. If I made somewhere between 2k-5k per year on that, I'd feel awesome about myself AND I'd be saving/investing around 21k per year. Sooo great. I'd be really happy. I'd sleep so damn well!
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"If you want to make a permanent change, stop focusing on the size of your problems and start focusing on the size of you!" ---T. Harv Eker
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I think your fundamentals are spot on, but you're kind of missing it, the adventitious aspects of such a society is that our commitment to creativity skyrockets, that can be in one off boutique solution, or optimizations, the general exploration of the possibility space is comparable to a singularity all by itself.. to the shrinking population sizes, I think it's important to keep in mind the advances in medicine, research into senescence and bioreactors is still in its infancy, very promising developments happening at the moment that have enormous potential to provide vastly improved healthcare to all also, there's already WAAY too many people hiking the Appalachian Trail I've heard you almost can't get a permit to hike the last leg of it anymore, it's becoming like Everest, most uncouth. maybe once vertical farming blooms we can start reclaiming farm land and sculpting more places to be in nature personally I'd love to live in a high density apartment spire in the middle of a forest
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Your channel is a true inspiration to me.
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I like your thorough vids Well thought out and presented. No fluff, but not skipping through. good job
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One thng I would add to the UBI framework would be to incentivize education. $2000 month, with no strings attached as a start. If you can sell your skills or goods that you create to other people, great. However, whatever organization is providing the $2000 base amount should also reward time and effort spent on self-improvement. Whether that is studing university level physics or studying blacksmithing and forging. This will encourage progress and guard against societal stagnation.
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My concern is how myself and many others with large mortgages would be able to pay them on a UBI. But my head hurts thinking through the situation. Many wouldn’t be able to pay, but no one would be able to buy the house if the bank tried to sell it…. How do people move up the housing ladder if they can’t earn more money?
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Hello! I wanted to express my appreciation for your work and the valuable content you consistently provide. As a huge fan of your stuff, I am truly thankful for all the effort you put into your presentations. They are not only informative but also exceptionally well done. I was wondering if you have considered sharing your slide presentations. They would be immensely helpful for me in explaining various topics to my friends in a concise and clear way. Your expertise and the quality of your slides would undoubtedly enhance my ability to communicate complex concepts effectively. Thank you once again for your hard work, and I hope you consider making your slide presentations available to your audience. It would be an incredible resource. Keep up the fantastic work!
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Always viewed it as post scarcity/ post 'year zero event. Love your takes. Would like to follow you on twitter?
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Possibly the AR revolution and automation might also make it possible to build housing or structures exceedingly less expensive than they are presently and then also a variation updating on Elon musk boring equipment could also give us the ability to excavate really cheaply and build downward and then therefore bring down the cost of housing that way as well possibly..
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Great overview but I think the crux is drilling down on the change over. All the hobbies in the world won't mean a thing if we can't safely transition to a post AI economy. Labor, Unemployment, UBI, Housing, transportation, and dressing social and economic stratification and the transition of wealth, taxes, social support structures ect are the absolute main issue that needs to be discussed fully and repeatedly. It literally is just as if not more critical than the alignment discussion. Keeping AI from killing us all is critical. But just as critical is keeping humans from killing each other as we face this existential transition. We need a deep and constant conversation about this most important subject.
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I don’t see the psychopaths and sociopaths that sit in positions of power ever letting this happen. Their greed will always crave more, if we had infinite resources it wouldn’t be about what they have, but making sure you don’t have anything.
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I think the biggest thing missing from these videos is acknowledgement that most people don't work in silos. Replacing our careers with hobbies will not be fulfilling, as humans are highly cooperative, and working together in a structured environment to achieve a common goal is rewarding and extremely meaningful. It's not (just) about status - it's burned into our DNA. A more likely future would be one in which AIs/robots and humans (who wish to) work side by side. Or at the very least the machines will give us tasks that make us feel productive and helpful, and provide secure structure and competent/compassionate leadership. Deaths of despair (suicide, drug overdose, etc) are rising at an alarming rate, and it's got nothing to do with income. I'm actually pro-UBI, I just think we're not considering how important it is for the psyche to belong to a cooperative, productive enterprise, be it a tribe or a corporation.
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and how much time would it take to be implemented largely at scale lets say for an entire country at least ? (but it should probably mean that it's the same elsewhere) probably 20 years minimum. I'm talking about the time it would take not only for AI to replace approximatly 90% of digital / data related jobs, but also then for the government to switch for an unprecedented money system like UBI. maybe more than 20 years in fact, but maybe i'm wrong
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"Here slaves, heres a basic income for you, while we claim everything that exists for ourselves" and a dr evil laugh at the end.
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Thank you! It's good to hear you are excited for the future.
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While some zoning laws are obviously needed, it does seem alot of them are in place to maximize profits... Also, what are your thoughts on taxing energy/other utilities? many people use aircon when they could just wear a couple more layers of clothes, keeps the lights on longer then they should, have long showers, etc. obviously its disadcentivized with the cost it brings, but if the cost was ramped up higher it would result in a more strict culture.
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As someone once said "the nerds shall inherit the earth", be they car nerds, gaming nerds, or boat building nerds. As 3D printing, CNC machines, etc, improve so too will our ability to make our own personalized items.
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Awesome video, thanks David
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My purpose is the long-term survival of intelligent life. I can't imagine any idea more destructive to the future of intelligent life than UBI. My own experience on the road leads to the clear conclusion that almost all homeless today are unemployable and not contributing to others or to society in any way, not because of a lack of jobs, but due to drug addiction, disability, or simply no desire to be a contribution to others. A world with UBI will simply enlarge this underclass of the non-contributing who become an ever-increasing burden on the contributing. UBI creates an ever-accelerating vicious circle of non-contribution where the children of the non-contributors never learn the habits and sense of purpose that lead to wanting to make a contribution to others and instead live in a perpetual child-like world of expectation, hedonism, selfishness, dependency and fear. Your passing point that UBI might lead to a lack of productivity and self-actualization is an understatement. Let me say in closing that UBI won't even be necessary, as any student of economics knows, since the opportunities to serve other people and society productively only increase as the cost of goods and services decrease. Spend any time in a typical household today (the 99%) and you'll observe the need and demand for services of all kinds: childcare, elder care, tutors, psychotherapy, physical therapy, fitness training, music, art, cleaning, landscaping, repairs, school teaching, work training, etc. Any one of these professions could use 10% of the adult population when people can afford it, which will be soon. So, even if 70% of the current workforce were to lose their current jobs, the remaining 30% become so much more productive that every household with at least one working member can afford all these additional services, thus putting all the previously underemployed to work serving the needs of others in productive ways, doing work which is much more satisfying as well, but only ONLY if they have not already been caught in the trap of hedonism, dependency, and laziness so that they are unable to contribute to the lives of others. UBI is not a safety net, it is a trap. David, a smart guy like you should take a moment and consider what a hell you are advocating,, and at least wait to see if I am wrong before advocating a solution without a problem. I'm available as @mrfunding on twitter.
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Personally I would go crazy not having a job. What are some potential careers of the future?
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I fully support UBI! However, I think long term, the implications of AI, require classifying AI as something everyone in society collectively owns. Maybe that's "socialism", but if we don't do that, I'm not sure how we don't end up with a few wealthy AI-owning families, ruling us forever.
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23:40 grandma would rather you take care of her and not a robot. This part I kind of disagree with. A lot of older people don’t want to burden their family/friends with taking care of them. If a robot could do the cooking/cleaning/care and family then could just visit and hang out - that would be the best of both worlds I think.
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Great presentation, thanks for sharing with us! What about local Security / law enforcement, peace keeping, firefighting and other natural disasters / accident response teams are also going to be still needed in a UBI world, won’t they? What about legal, justice, etc? Do you put all that under the umbrella of health and services?
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Credits backed by people, a digital currency. X credits per person, created and given to them when they join. When someone dies the x credits that represented them need to be removed to prevent inflation so every credit in the entire system gets reduced by an equal percent until that person's x credits are removed.
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I put my son through college on a single income...thats great for a person like my grandfather. The value of the dollar was TEN TIMES what its now when first started working
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alot of new technology like 3d printing and brain interfaces will bring new entertainment for us to the level which we've never known
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One thing I think you may be missing is longevity. If we’re going to be living longer mortgages and car payments should be able to be stretched out to 50 yrs or more. So with that being said I would think we would be able to afford bigger houses not smaller houses. Same with cars. What do think David?
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I feel like your approach is minimising poverty, which is laudable. But it is grossly insufficient; as you issue money and the rich get wealthier, assets will continue to get more expensive. I think the only way to do basic income is to tax wealth—and stop focusing on taxing income. That way you keep a distribution of wealth going (just distributing money only increases the price of assets, and then rich people can buy your tiny house)
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Grandma still prefers a human to take care of her, yeah, but hopefully medicine will evolve up to a point in which grandma doesn't need any robot, because she reached longevity escape velocity xD
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Were you just pulling numbers out of the air for the UBI, or were they based on something specific. You did mention decreasing incentives for children. Which honestly makes sense. Kids are expensive, but some of those costs don't scale, or don't scale evenly with more kids. Like, getting remarried and getting a step kid doubled the grocery bill, but the electric bill only went up a couple dollars and the cable and internet bill stayed the same.
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Great presentation. I have a question about the basics of UBI, however. It is estimated that about 50% of tax revenues collected by the government comes from workers. Another 36% from payroll taxes. I the vast majority of people are no longer 'contributing' their tax money, where do the funds come from to fund UBI?
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As a Swede I really think it is interesting with the concept of a Walkable City, the concept of having a non-walkable city is something outside my imagination. I really need to visit US to experience this crazy thing myself.
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Big fan of video and UBI in general. Although I do not think it’s an adequate “end goal” as to where we go from ai. Socialism needs to be the answer. The capitalists (owners of the means of production) will always have an incentive to undercut bargaining power, cut ubi and other social welfare to save on taxes, capture public goods through privatization, and monopolize industries. It’s time we look into both ubi as well as how AI can play a hand in central planning and economic decision making. Additionally, worker owned enterprises have a greater ability to equitably and rationally respond to automation than traditional shareholder and wage worker companies because the incentives align more easily with it.
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But automation and 3d printing should also lower housing prices, vertical farms and zero kilometer food production and distribution, also should keep food prices in check. Most crucial part right now is energy, all AIs, Robots and technology are power hungry...
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The implementation of AI may cause humans to be enlightened to a simple but fear-free lifestyle that the vast majority of people today are not able to wrap their heads around. However I can't see cars not being a sticking point for many. I think car ownership will still occur. But cars will need to be rethought. I mentioned earlier my personal car is a 2004. I drive a work vehicle for my job (which probably will not be replaced by AI and I have a good chance at retiring doing work I mostly enjoy). As we all can imagine cars will no longer be powered by fossil fuels. But already the durability of cars has increased since let's say 30 years ago. Car ownership in the future may be long term. Maybe cars will be handed down through the generations. Also the "luxury features" and status symbol embodiment add a lot of expense to cars today. This will have to be reduced. If most people are not working, there won't be a need for "time saving" features. Also people will not need to drive as much. Cars can become no-frills basic (but long lasting) transportation.
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Are you going to do the rest of your videos in full Star Trek regalia (ref to your latest videos)? I like the message because yes... we are living in the future. We now have the tools, or are very close to having the tools that can lead to a post-capitalist society. I personally don't feel UBI is the best bet because we have to work out proper Governance in our nations, handling things like corruption, etc. before that happens. We must "get our house in order" if you will, before we can enjoy such things as a fair and balanced global subsistence minimum. Rather than UBI I'd rather go to directly for a money-less society, let all of these legacy institutions die by ignoring them. Banks, financial institutions and politicians will not help with anything besides to try to continue to hold their death grip on their position in society as it currently runs. If we have UBI before we heal all of that corruption, we will only ever end up in a society where the powerful oppress the weak. Whether they gain power through being centralized and being the organization that is supposed to hand out this "basic income", or by placing some other type of mob rule over this, unless UBI is the same as an inalienable right (for someone to mess with your subsistence would legally be like attempting to murder you)... it will be completely impossible to properly regulate. This current financial framework and bureaucracy we live in doesn't have any direct transitions to a post-capitalist world, but I think UBI done right would not include any institution who has ever taken advantage of a population of people within the capitalist framework.
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"What will I do without my job" has got be one of weirdest question ever heard
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If UBI gets established, will all of us get the same amount of money? If yes, who will establish and how will be established what amount of money we will get? If no, who and based on what will decide what amount of money will be given to each individual?
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Regarding government handout income the historical lesson is people will cry out, "It's not enough!"
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A note on housing. With AI replacing so many office jobs there will be an abundance of office space that can be converted into apartments.
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I love your videos man I hope everyone watches them!
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There’s no reason FDVR wouldn’t be possible given you just need to map and impulse the nervous system
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It's a scary reality we're going into, if you actually understand how AI is going alter the work force and everything in our environment.
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$2K USD is slicing it a little thin. I think 3K net or even 2.5K would make a difference. In the evolution of things, we may evolve into less greedy species when there is no more fear of scarcity or even death. When I was a kid 50 years ago I wanted to be rich. As an adult, the responsibilities involved with being being wealthy sound like a headache. For me to make the most living within our means seems like plenty. So even within our individual lifetimes we can go through changes and evolution.
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The problem with U. B. I is inflatiion/lost buying power. If everyone gets its, more currency is chasing same amount of goods. If it's given selectively, those who get it are robbing buying power from those who don't. Govt will introduce price controls, and this will create shortages. We're heading into a lose/lose game, where only a very select few will reap massive long term benefits.
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There are people that hold ideology that is odious to most of us. Will their rights to hold these ideas restrict them from UBI?
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"Tiny houses not allowed" Ugh. That makes me angry to hear. There's absolutely no reason for that. That's being controlling just for the hell out of it, and is outright cruel when it blocks off one of the very few realistic avenues for many people.
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Instead of just giving money to people, why not just get rid of money and we can use data about usage rates to make sure that there is always a sufficient amount of whatever people will need in a given area. Allowing money to exist only facilitates the hoarding of power by rich people, and they get that money by stealing it from the labor of their employees.
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I would think that if unemployment reaches 70%, if the UBI payment is not enough, and/or housing solutions are not sufficient, then housing prices, and rental costs will crash. I believe at least in the short term as the baby boomers are a large percentage of home owners and a big chunk of voters, the government will favor saving the housing market from a complete crash. Perhaps leaning toward government purchasing of housing to provide subsidized rentals. Strange times ahead indeed.