This can describe so so so many towns across the world. We can solve housing affordability immediately if we allow people to spread out and live not tied to a job and insane rent/mortgages. We saw...
My father was born in [ Place A ] where the collapse of [ local industry ] left good people struggling to survive. Their living and their way of life is now all but gone, and good jobs are hard to find. [ Place B ] has been hit just as hard, with farming and factory jobs disappearing and families left wondering what’s next.
This can describe so so so many towns across the world. We can solve housing affordability immediately if we allow people to spread out and live not tied to a job and insane rent/mortgages. We saw a bit with remote work during the pandemic and it was disheartening how quickly our governments caved to businesses return to office mandates. And this is the world that is quickly coming for us, when nearly all of us will not have jobs that pay livable wages.
I’d like to conclude by mentioning Aaron Swartz.
Aaron, wherever you are now, if you have memory and consciousness, I hope you are at peace in a gentle cooling place of safety, rest and comfort.
I've been a fan of Jeff's for a long time. I was there to help beta test Stack Overflow. Seeing him transition from computer geek to successful philanthropist warms my heart. And I love that he's...
I've been a fan of Jeff's for a long time. I was there to help beta test Stack Overflow. Seeing him transition from computer geek to successful philanthropist warms my heart. And I love that he's putting his money where his mouth is to collect data about GMI. The more data, the better.
Haven’t had a chance to read it in full yet, but this looks like an interesting article that I would’ve missed otherwise, so I’m glad you posted it! [Edit] That was a powerfully written,...
Haven’t had a chance to read it in full yet, but this looks like an interesting article that I would’ve missed otherwise, so I’m glad you posted it!
[Edit] That was a powerfully written, incredibly hopeful piece from someone who’s committing very significant resources to actually making positive changes happen. It was far more impactful than I expected going in, and I’m very pleased to have read it.
I think I probably support some form of Guaranteed Minimum Income (GMI) or Universal Basic Income (UBI) and it's very easy to support at the very least more research into GMI and UBI, including...
I think I probably support some form of Guaranteed Minimum Income (GMI) or Universal Basic Income (UBI) and it's very easy to support at the very least more research into GMI and UBI, including large-scale trials like the GiveDirectly trial that Jeff Atwood is helping to fund. There should be way more pilot programs like this, in different regions, in different countries, with different experimental designs. We need to know more and, if we want to eventually pass a GMI or UBI on a larger scale, we need a robust evidence base to justify it.
However, when looking at the chart showing the rising cost of education, healthcare, and housing, I can't help but thinking that America badly needs abundance liberalism to drive costs down, which GMI and UBI can't do. The rising cost of housing, for example, is not inevitable. It's a downstream result of political choices, such as zoning laws and other laws, regulations, and processes that make building housing more difficult, more expensive, and take longer.
My ideal society would be one that both implements aggressive anti-poverty programs like GMI or UBI and improves the fundamental productivity of the economy, especially in troubled sectors like housing.
This can describe so so so many towns across the world. We can solve housing affordability immediately if we allow people to spread out and live not tied to a job and insane rent/mortgages. We saw a bit with remote work during the pandemic and it was disheartening how quickly our governments caved to businesses return to office mandates. And this is the world that is quickly coming for us, when nearly all of us will not have jobs that pay livable wages.
Aaron, wherever you are now, if you have memory and consciousness, I hope you are at peace in a gentle cooling place of safety, rest and comfort.
I've been a fan of Jeff's for a long time. I was there to help beta test Stack Overflow. Seeing him transition from computer geek to successful philanthropist warms my heart. And I love that he's putting his money where his mouth is to collect data about GMI. The more data, the better.
Sorry, didn't notice the other post also linked this blog post. Feel free to delete, not sure how to do that myself.
No need to delete this just because it was mentioned in a comment in another topic. It's a valuable post on its own.
Haven’t had a chance to read it in full yet, but this looks like an interesting article that I would’ve missed otherwise, so I’m glad you posted it!
[Edit] That was a powerfully written, incredibly hopeful piece from someone who’s committing very significant resources to actually making positive changes happen. It was far more impactful than I expected going in, and I’m very pleased to have read it.
I think I probably support some form of Guaranteed Minimum Income (GMI) or Universal Basic Income (UBI) and it's very easy to support at the very least more research into GMI and UBI, including large-scale trials like the GiveDirectly trial that Jeff Atwood is helping to fund. There should be way more pilot programs like this, in different regions, in different countries, with different experimental designs. We need to know more and, if we want to eventually pass a GMI or UBI on a larger scale, we need a robust evidence base to justify it.
One of the coolest, most interesting, and most inspiring new policies I've heard about in recent years is UBI for trans people: https://www.sf.gov/news--san-francisco-launches-new-guaranteed-income-program-trans-community
However, when looking at the chart showing the rising cost of education, healthcare, and housing, I can't help but thinking that America badly needs abundance liberalism to drive costs down, which GMI and UBI can't do. The rising cost of housing, for example, is not inevitable. It's a downstream result of political choices, such as zoning laws and other laws, regulations, and processes that make building housing more difficult, more expensive, and take longer.
My ideal society would be one that both implements aggressive anti-poverty programs like GMI or UBI and improves the fundamental productivity of the economy, especially in troubled sectors like housing.