I wholeheartedly agree with the idea of a universal basic dividend because we desperately need to distribute the wealth. I think that it was very creative of Mr. Trost to name his idea as a dividend as opposed to regular UBI because his proposition is literally a dividend of the national gross domestic product. The idea combines common ownership through private ownership and control over the means of production. I believe that this will be a great route for bringing together the extremely divided nation that America has become over the past few decades. Mr. Trost also noted that the universal basic dividend will be something that promotes freedom, because people will be able to walk away from it, unlike regular government-run welfare programs. So frequently, the disabled or recently unemployed or evicted individuals begin welfare programs, and even once they are able to return to normal life, do not. It can be thought of as similar to a drug, in which people become addicted and cannot stop using because it is just easier to continue life as you have always done. The UBD will omit this issue and allow for people to return to their normal lives of innovation and competition.
This plan also ensures that the government is constitutionally limited to make certain that individuals are not using their power to advance their own personal interests. The benefit that I am most excited about is the increase in personal mobility for individuals and families. There are so many people stuck in crappy situations because poverty, illness, crime, and the like can often be cyclical and very difficult habits to change. With the UBD people would be able to move to be near better schools and jobs and move out of high crime areas. Inner-city areas are not always the best places to raise a family; spreading individuals out into lower cost of living suburbs has benefits that are manifold. Something else that adds to the benefit for impoverished and often uneducated families moving out of the inner city is that the UBD creates more job opportunities for low-skilled individuals. Since there will be no minimum wage requirements, several new businesses, and job opportunities will pop up for people to learn and build their skillsets. Another great point that Mr. Trost made was to provide the elderly with higher amounts of universal basic dividends than the more youthful since they often incur quite large hospital costs. How awful is it to lose a loved one and have to carry and few thousand dollars of their medical debt that they could not afford to pay? I would vote yes for the universal basic dividend.
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