A Universal Basic Income Would Engorge the Paternal State

A UBI would quickly become the mechanism of central control. It would also create legions of human house cats.

by Max Borders
June 14, 2018

Not since the carbon tax has there been a proposal hotter than that of the universal basic income (UBI). Big Tech luminaries such as Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk have expressed support for the scheme.

The idea is that some ultra-lean government body cuts everyone a check periodically. No one is left to live in poverty, because once you establish a reasonable poverty line, the UBI ensures no one lives below it.

For the poorest among us, life won’t be easy. But in theory at least, everyone under a UBI would meet his or her basic needs. No matter one’s income, each citizen would get, say, $1,200 a month. A UBI combines economic efficiency favored by the right with redistributive aspects favored by the left.

But we have deep concerns about a UBI — or at least the sort of UBI that is currently being floated among the cognitive elite. With the following, I offer some reasons to be very wary.

1. Human House Cats

As every economist will tell you, incentives matter. The …