Scott Santens Thanks, yeah, I wish I had some kind of sound studio, nicer mic, better video creation tools, but I've got to work with what I've got. Windows Movie Maker is pretty weak, and I added the music from within YouTube which doesn't offer much volume control. Still, I figure at least it's out there, and maybe someone else can use the image album itself to make something more out of it.

September 21, 2015 22:30:04 · Reply

Scott Santens Thanks!

August 7, 2015 19:58:12 · Reply

Scott Santens I do try to emphasize the optional nature of minimum wage with a basic income. I'm not disagreeing that a high min wage along with UBI could be a great combo, as it would certainly accelerate automation of human labor, but just as we don't actually have to dip chocolate in peanut butter, the combo isn't mandatory, no matter how delicious. I see min wage as a huge bargaining chip for achieving UBI. If those who want a high min wage get it and a UBI, a lot of people will dislike that combo. If those who want no min wage get it and a UBI, a lot of people will dislike that combo as well. But I do see room for negotiation between these two outcomes. Instead of one or the other, we could agree to keep min wage as is, or raise it to $10 instead of $15 as a compromise, or slightly lower it to $5 as a compromise in the other direction. There is room for negotiation here. The most important thing above all is a basic income guarantee, and whatever we can use to get everyone sitting down at the same table and talking over the details of how to go about it, is what I want to shine a light on.

July 30, 2015 17:03:49 · Reply

Toni Pickard I feel that, in Canada at least, it's the right wing media that is leading us to see the two as opposing each other, or alternatives to each other, rather than as two pillars, standing together to support a roof over all our heads. I'm not willing to think of the only protection the lowest paid workers have from the law as a 'bargaining chip' for UBI. And I don't think UBI will solve all problems, any more than you do. We need to recognize and support the importance and validity of other important campaigns, not undermine them in the interest of our own preferred solution to some of the problems. Workers deserve legal protection against self interested exploitation by employers as much as we all deserve an income floor beneath our feet.

July 31, 2015 02:04:19 · Reply

John David Hodge John Hodge If it's a choice between a minimum wage and a minimum income, who would choose the former? People who are guilty about getting something for nothing, perhaps?

August 13, 2015 18:54:07 · Reply

Scott Santens This is what I wrote on Reddit recently to further clarify:It's definitely not an either/or choice, but there is a very good argument at the federal level to reduce or eliminate it, replacing it with the basic income, while allowing states and cities to create their own minimum wages, that they may set as high as they like to exist on top of it. This certainly makes sense in places like SF and NY where the federal basic income won't go as far. There is great potential here for all sides of the spectrum to come together on this, with both sides getting something they want, and both sides giving up something they would prefer. Raising minimum wages at the federal level in combination with gaining a basic income does not seem to me as likely to happen, as it seems the Left would be getting everything they want. This would require an extremely powerful movement on the Left, versus the Grand Bargain kind of potential that exists for the Left and the Right to come together on replacing the federal minimum wage with basic income, and leaving minimum wages to a more local level. But yeah, the higher the min wage, the more automation, and as long as the basic income is indexed to something that increases it faster than inflation as a growing share of productivity, everyone will continue being better and better off with automation. That's a great argument for raising minimum wages even higher than $15/hr, but I'm interested in what we can get everyone to agree on, and I don't see that prospect as being as viable. It would be giving up a lot of potential support from businesses and business owners, who may otherwise back basic income.

August 13, 2015 23:50:27 · Reply

Scott Santens This is what I wrote on Reddit recently to further clarify: "It's definitely not an either/or choice, but there is a very good argument at the federal level to reduce or eliminate it, replacing it with the basic income, while allowing states and cities to create their own minimum wages, that they may set as high as they like to exist on top of it. This certainly makes sense in places like SF and NY where the federal basic income won't go as far. There is great potential here for all sides of the spectrum to come together on this, with both sides getting something they want, and both sides giving up something they would prefer. Raising minimum wages at the federal level in combination with gaining a basic income does not seem to me as likely to happen, as it seems the Left would be getting everything they want. This would require an extremely powerful movement on the Left, versus the Grand Bargain kind of potential that exists for the Left and the Right to come together on replacing the federal minimum wage with basic income, and leaving minimum wages to a more local level. But yeah, the higher the min wage, the more automation, and as long as the basic income is indexed to something that increases it faster than inflation as a growing share of productivity, everyone will continue being better and better off with automation. That's a great argument for raising minimum wages even higher than $15/hr, but I'm interested in what we can get everyone to agree on, and I don't see that prospect as being as viable. It would be giving up a lot of potential support from businesses and business owners, who may otherwise back basic income."

August 13, 2015 23:51:40 · Reply