r/UniversalBasicIncome

I ask this because I think with how it is now, people could use the extra money towards staying more afloat (at least in California), so instead of making $25/hr (~$4000/mo gross), you make ~$3200/mo after tax, ~$800 per month in taxes, and it just goes up from there when you try to put in more work and make more money to live properly, but also is a trade off for a good work life balance in aloe of cases. Instead Why or why not could there be a flat rate up to a certain amount earned per month (like $50-400 max a month, and lesser the less money you make under 5 or 6 grand then after that threshold it starts getting progressive. This way, people in the lower and middle class have more money to be able to afford more comfortably. You might make enough money at a job from your gross salary to be able to comfortably afford a modest lifestyle but after taxes are taken out, you may be barely able to afford many necessities, so you pick up a second job and now you’re able to start to afford some more necessities, just enough to stay afloat and secure, but you are working two jobs that take up two thirds of your time that you can only use the other third to sleep and not having any real time to live. I feel that is important too.

Edit: What I mean is this: Taxes are essential for a society to function properly. That is a fact. We need taxes. Currently, in most places taxes are one of the biggest expenses on a middle class individual after rent. Being middle class, you make too much for government subsidies and must pay for things like healthcare, housing, food, etc. on your own. These things are very costly and cause a lot of people in the middle class to struggle mentally and financially just to stay afloat. How about we change the variables of our progressive tax system to lean more on individuals who are able to be comfortable mentally and financially as in people who make over a said amount of money.

What this looks like:

A low income person that makes $1000-3000/mo pays $50-200/mo in total taxes flat rate such that their net income is $950-2800 (currently it’s around $550 for $3000/mo income in places like California)

A middle income person that makes $4000-7000/mo pays $300-$800 flat rate (currently it’s around $2000/mo for someone that makes $7000/mo in places like California)

And then income above a comfortable, reasonable middle class life style should then start being progressively taxed such that the burden is shifted more to people who can afford it comfortably compared to people that barely survive because of it.

I dont mean traditional communism or anything like that.

in my opinion our system is broken. We rely on markets, bonds etc to not collapse meanwhile they dont like anything that might lower their profits for even a better fairer society so hold us all to ransom. Benefits that a lot of people rely on and services get cut and billionaire and companies threaten to move anytime anyone goes left towards a better society for everyone not the few.

im not sure communism is the answer. i think UBI might help but thats a pipe dream for now.

i refuse to believe this system is the only one we could use and theres no true alternates out there, or at the very least , decent ideas for sustainable systems because i feel ours is doomed to collapse.

does anyone know of any books exploring non communist alternative systems out there? Just exchanging ideas, not asking for manifestos etc.

 Would you demand “legitimacy” or would you just send investment freely?

 I would demand a bit of legitimacy.

 If I was an investor, I wouldn’t want to be scammed.

Ironically, this kind of “background check" could stop a business from even existing.

I think we’ll just have to trust such a person with a bit of money. They might be a scammer, but if we don’t trust them at all, they won’t even have a chance.

And if they don't have a chance of making such a business, then we'll be left counting on a) politicians who are influenced by corporate interests, and b) insincere business leaders who are good at talking, but bad at actually making UBI happen.

I know, even if it existed in a single neighborhood, that wouldn't be "universal", but it would be a step in the right direction. Maybe a neighborhood in LA is a good target.

Theoretically, if enough people crowd funded a business, even through the use of a social media platform, that could be enough.