Week 12 Response - Obstacles Against a Universal Basic Income

Image Source

This post is in response to the question, “What would be the biggest obstacle, in your eyes, when trying to pass this [universal basic income] law and implement it into society?” by @frijole

I believe there would be more than one obstacle to the implementation of a universal basic income (UBI). The first obstacle that comes to my mind is inflation. If everyone is given the same amount of money as a starting point, then wouldn’t that just cause the cost of goods to rise? There will always be lower, middle, and upper classes. I think it is absurd to believe that a minimum income would change any of that.

One of Dr. Trost’s main arguments for a UBI is that it would provide people with the freedom of choice - the choice to move out of poor communities, invest in startup companies, and more. What I foresee happening is that the rich will still be richer, which would leave society with the same problems Dr. Trost is attempting to solve. The price of those nicer neighborhoods will only rise when the demand does.

A big obstacle that would potentially deter people from passing a UBI law is the socialist connotation that comes with it. In the title of his lecture, Dr. Trost was intentional to state “not socialist” and I can understand why. Many people, especially in the southern part of the country, will automatically disengage as soon as the idea of “free money” is mentioned. That is because it is a tested method that has led economies down the wrong path. As we have discussed throughout the semester, any step toward socialism is a step in the wrong direction.

The lecture referenced in this response is The Libertarian, Conservative, Progressive, Communist, (Not Socialist) Case for a Universal Basic Income by Dr. Steve Trost.