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Universal basic income gains support in South Korea after Covid

65 points| undefined1 | 5 years ago |asia.nikkei.com | reply

37 comments

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[+] takenpilot|5 years ago|reply
I like the idea from this article that basic income is a form of simplifying the government's social programs, leading to a smaller government overall. Slowly building up the basic income as those social programs are deconstructed is a wise way to do it.
[+] Reedx|5 years ago|reply
That was one of the points Andrew Yang made when he was pitching the Freedom Dividend.

Noting the efficiency of giving people money directly, and they can use it in a way that would be most useful in their particular case.

[+] ep103|5 years ago|reply
This reason is why it can be pitched to conservatives as well as progressives. It should be noted though, that basic income cannot 100% replace the welfare state. You cannot just give basic income to a person with sufficiently problematic mental health issues, for example, and call it a day. But yes, as a general rule, this is a point in the + column for UBI.
[+] chillacy|5 years ago|reply
I have great hopes for smaller countries trying out UBI. Nowadays the US is far too slow with implementing policies that are proven in other places (e.g. healthcare).
[+] sleepysysadmin|5 years ago|reply
South Korea had an election in April putting said people into power. The election occurring during the peak of covid gave them the power to do this.

Their government debt is ridiculously small. I hope they go forward with this; universally country wide.

The current problem is that no basic income pilots have ever been universal. Perhaps universal basic income will be brilliant. If it is, whoever does it first will succeed.

[+] trident1000|5 years ago|reply
So I have one question with UBI if anyone can answer. What is to stop people every election cycle from simply voting in the people who promise them the most money? Couldnt that spiral our of control?
[+] scanny|5 years ago|reply
Because you still have the current group of people dead against it, those with money paying higher taxes, who will fight against it. The real struggle is getting it through the first time.
[+] DobryMorozov|5 years ago|reply
Would UBI just be absorbed by an increase in rent and housing prices?
[+] pixl97|5 years ago|reply
Just like asset inflation occurs when the government hands out trillions to huge corporations that gets turned around and invested in already high stocks?
[+] ksec|5 years ago|reply
Still doesn't solve the housing part. Which is the biggest part of living cost.
[+] pixl97|5 years ago|reply
Because it is a different problem that many other countries do not have.
[+] SrslyJosh|5 years ago|reply
This is probably one reason why the US republican party refuses to provide the necessary economic stimulus payments--they don't want the masses to get a taste of a kinder, more just society.
[+] google234123|5 years ago|reply
They also don't want to start a new welfare program that would cost trillions a year...
[+] netsharc|5 years ago|reply
Didn't they do this in April? After decades of saying "No handouts!", it was suddenly possible! Because the alternative was riots and maybe a November massacre...
[+] pkaye|5 years ago|reply
Just call it a subsidy.
[+] cpursley|5 years ago|reply
Didn't they already try this in North Korea?
[+] Kednicma|5 years ago|reply
No; when are you thinking of? [0] gives a good overview of the North Korean struggles over the past few decades, going back to the Korean War. You might be thinking of the famine in the 1990s, when the government took total control over food supplies. However, this was not UBI. It was not cash handouts but food handouts, and it was not a supplementary diet but a restriction on total food per household.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXaIpTj3vOs

[+] LegitShady|5 years ago|reply
$430 every month doesn't go very far in SK and all that for only half the budget each year...

>"We cannot get to 500,000 won a month right now," Lee said. "But we can get there in 15 to 20 years by bolstering taxes on land, which is a public asset, carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels, and digital services developed using data we have produced."

Oh well just tax until you can afford it right? That won't have any secondary effects.

The article doesnt take a serious approach to analyzing the reality of these proposals and instead wants to push them as if they're realistic without mentioning the cost of living or anything else.