LogFAQs > #968505225

adjl posted...

You could characterize it as a wage paid by the government for simply being alive, if you want to take a slightly out-of-the-box approach to thinking about it, but that would be more of an academic exercise than anything else.

That would be broader reaching than an academic exercise. If living is a task that is assigned to people by an employer then the employer can rate their job performance. The employer can set goals for how they perform the assigned task. The employer can reprimand the employee for not meeting said goals. Government is suppose to represent the interest of citizens. What you suggest would make citizens subservient to government.

For example, the government is allowed to censor itself. If anything a person says can be interpreted as representing the government as an employee then there is no freedom of speech. If a persons every action is done as a government employee then there is no freedom of expression. They would have no civil liberties.

adjl posted...

The takeaway point is that UBI negates the need for businesses to pay a livable minimum wage

That is different from enabling small businesses to pay a living wage. I think that is where the earlier confusion came from and why it seems like we've been talking about different things.