Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Finance, the economy & Economics Universal Basic Income? Guaranteed Job?

A while ago I posted something about the problem of dealing with folks who became a permanent underclass due to any number of things. I think we are either there now, or very soon. We need a bit more than just money or some kind of job. We need to give these people some kind of system that will care, train, educate and help these people find a life. A job would be nice. Plain money, however, is certainly not the answer. I remember the old debates about welfare and how to do it.

My own thought, at the time, was to build them housing facilities which also had communal kitchens. Food stamps would only apply to basic food stuffs and they could then cook their own. If they couldn't cook then they would be given training as to how to cook. Same with clothes. If they needed cloths they would be supplied with the cloth, a sewing room and, if they didn't know how to sew they would be taught. I am basing this on my own belief that people need to do for themselves, whenever possible, which, I believe, would also give them a feeling of some kind of success and pride.

There is a simple fact which drives this. There WILL be a permanent underclass due to the lack of jobs for those not well educated or lack of training to do those jobs which are available. The simple fact is that many choose not to get training and feel that they are somehow entitled. There is nothing anybody is likely to do to change that. We have folks, right now, in that condition but, give it about 10 years and there are going to be a lot more folks out of a job due to automation. Its coming and nobody is going to be able to stop it so we had best start thinking about how we can deal with it.

Hopefully, folks are going to start thinking on these problems and find solutions which is, incidentally, somewhat of a pipe dream.

I also thought that gov would start dealing with climate change, years ago. Nope, didn't happen. Louisiana, right now, is underwater and that's just the beginning of what we will see in coming years as we are, obviously, woefully lacking in any kind of preparation as the seas continue to rise. An example might be Bangladesh where there have been 1,000,000 already displaced already. As that million moves away from the sea it puts pressure on others to move up to Burma which is trying to stop the Bangladeshi influx due to pressure from them that already lost their land to the sea. In situations like this war is almost a given. Just remember, this is just one part of the world in trouble but there are lots of others. In the pacific, for instance, its generally believed that entire island nations are going under the sea right now.

Its unfortunate but, as far as I can tell, the United States, AND the rest of the world, simply cannot bring themselves to consider what's coming. Hell, we can't even fight the Zika virus thing! (and we know what that is going to cause) The only good thing about all of this is that I will be dead before it really gets bad but bad it's going to be!

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That could be a good epitaph when we write the obituary of the USA.

You've got it, and you are right.
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The other possibility is that the One-Thousandth of the One Percent will decide to eliminate much of the obsolete human population the way they would any other redundant equipment in their factories.
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Perhaps this helps to explain why there was an avalanche of fundamental breakthroughs in the period from 1890 to 1950, and so very few since then.
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Not out here it ain't.
Throw in the tiny houses solution and you might have something there. The key to it is to make allowances for more locations to PUT tiny houses in. Think "trailer parks".

400 or 500 a month will get you a 1 BR trailer home rental but the problem is, the zoning restrictions make them very scarce.
So calld Tiny Houses are glorified trailer homes and could be very viable if restrictions were eased.

I think in the light of increased unemployment it is silly to train people for jobs that don't exist or won't exist shortly. Should we train the indigent to be servants and bed-warmers for the (increasingly fewer) well-employed? Grind them up to make Soylent Green?

The whole idea of a UBI is that there are a bunch of people who are just going to collect for their whole lives with few job prospects.

The zoning laws are written to keep the upper and middle classes happy, but if most voters are poor should the laws change? We could allow housing like dorm rooms, with tiny spaces for residents. That would be much more practical than Tiny Houses which are relatively expensive to build and have few places to go. (I have studied them a lot.) At the very least we could create trailer parks designed for Tiny Houses and create a few standard government-built models to give to the poor.

This is the free housing I see for my "minimum income" program. You could also build community kitchens where they could be supervised cooking for the community, taking turns to earn some cash.

My grandfather was a drill bit sharpener during the oil boom in Okahoma and Texas. When a new drilling field would open, men and their families would flock there, requiring lodging and food in a community completely unprepared to deal with the onslaught.

My grandparents and their three children traveled in one of those big, black, hearse-looking automobiles, packed full, with stuff on the roof -- a big tent, a gramophone, linens, mattresses, cooking ware etc.

The need for bare-basics shelter for so many people was the problem and the solution was the shotgun house.


This house isn't from an oil boom town, but it looks just like one.

So would this the be forerunner of the tiny house?

(Are there ways around zoning restrictions? I mean, if you take the wheels off a trailer and put it on a foundation, wouldn't it be a pre-fab home or modular or something?)

(Ooh. And what about those shipping container houses? There are some pretty cool ones. And they're cheap ... if you live near a place that has a lot of shipping containers. I'm not sure what shipping on a shipping container is. But they could be kind of like Jenga housing ... pull one out, and the rest might not collapse.)

But back to shot gun houses. Many were company housing, built to lure desperately needed skilled workers. Others were privately built and owned. But they were mostly built on tiny lots, and each one had to protect itself from the elements independently. That isn't really the cheapest way to live. Apartments and townhouses share walls, so the fight against the weather is shared.

My son once rented an apartment above a frame shop downtown on bar street of a small college town (the one we live in). Heat (gas) was going to cost him a bundle. But we figured that the frame shop under him would be heated (and heat goes up). Plus he had a neighbor in front of him and behind him, an owner-heated stair-hall beside him, and only one wall exposed to the outside. He decided not to turn on the gas until he really needed heat. He never did need to get the gas turned on.

I like the idea of tiny houses; I like the building of equity. But I'm not sure they are as efficient as they need to be. Maybe the slapping on of wheels and relocating cancels out that efficiency thing ... if this generation needs to be mobile in order to earn a living wage.

Reality check. Where do you put a "small house"? There is NO land available in most major cities. One of my staff commutes 60 miles each do to live in somewhat affordable circumstances. 60 miles = 2.5 hours. And land is fast disappearing.

Chinese money has increased land and housing dramatically here.

Get real

Phil, there's still space in the margins between business and residential zones. Remember, these are basically trailer homes and most are transported ON flatbed trailers. We're talking 400 sq ft or thereabouts.

And since they CAN be moved, it is possible to set up a couple dozen on all kinds of empty land. For instance, we have had a large empty lot where a diner once stood in Norwalk at the corner of Firestone and Studebaker. The lot has stood empty for well over THREE years now and most likely will remain empty for another two or three.
A former Cadillac dealership at the other end on Studebaker and Florence has been an EYESORE for FIVE years BEGGING to be torn down.

No reason why a couple dozen or so tiny homes can't occupy this land and make a small sum for the owners while they decide what to do.

So just off the top of my head I just located space for FORTY-EIGHT small dwellings which can stay for up to five years, maybe more.