Basic income or Universal Basic Income (UBI), is now becoming popular among those seriously looking at the future. Especially since Andrew Yang’s presidential candidacy.
More people get our socioeconomics is failing. Pandemic 2020 showed the emperor that is “free market” capitalism has no clothes. In the previous version of this post, I wrote “[People] realize coming economic disruption must be mitigated”. That disruption no longer is “coming”.
With extreme unemployment, people lining up for food, getting evicted and closing their businesses, it’s clear the disruption is not coming. It’s here.
Interestingly, a large number of people thought UBI would never get to the point where it is taken seriously. In a way, checks the government sent all Americans, last spring could indicate the beginning of an UBI slippery slope: Getting free money for most Americans is a good thing, no matter how much their “rugged individualism” American value indoctrination may scream “NO IT’S NOT!” in their heads.
We’ll see what Biden/Harris does. I doubt they’ll go that far. The White House has a way of taming really good ideas and crushing better ones, which is why I say the White House is a terrible place from which to execute fundamental change.
This year may have been UBI’s “fifteen minutes of fame”. We’ll have to see whether proponents can move the needle on a UBI adoption. Given its rise in American awareness, now’s a great time to strike.
The same is true for Copiosis: just as we’ve seen with UBI this year, there will be a time in the future where headline grabbers such as billionaires, celebrities and pundits will say the same thing about Copiosis that people are saying now about UBI. Only we’ll be much better positioned. We’ll be ready to capture that momentum because we’ll have many on the ground projects giving people direct experience with our innovation.
So while we’re eagerly anticipating that future time, let’s take a look at the differences between UBI and Copiosis.
How do they compare?
UBI and Copiosis have some things in common. But they’re more different than the same.
They’re both transitional strategies. Both strive to free people from problems caused by flagging capitalism. Both give people access to basic needs in some way. That’s about where the similarities end though.
Basic income seems eminently practical. After all, all you’re doing is giving people money, then allowing recipients to spend it any way they want.
To my knowledge, there is no UBI follow-on strategy for fundamentally changing the status quo. People are still in debt, we still face our major risks and challenges, and the change we do get through basic income still has to be paid for by someone, either through a tax or other wealth transfer process.
Copiosis on the other hand is a full-blown fundamental change transition strategy.
A total reinvention
Instead of giving people money, Copiosis simply gives people the things money would otherwise buy. Unlike basic income, Copiosis eliminates all debt. It frees physical assets (machines, buildings, equipment) so they can be used in ways that have a net benefit to people and the planet. The way it does this harms no one, even those owning such assets.
It also stimulates increased innovation by making capital goods, including intellectual property, freely available.
Basic income can stimulate innovation and allow people to follow their passions too. But only if people make the right choices with the money they get. No such incentives encourage that though.
In Copiosis, since there is no money, and people are strongly encouraged to follow one’s passions, everyone on the planet, over time, becomes an innovation center. That’s because all passions lead to innovation.
Finally, once implemented, Copiosis leaves humanity free to choose. No longer needing to earn a living, no longer needing to pay for things that enhance one’s ability to thrive, we find ourselves in a society unlike anything we’ve had before. And all of this costs nobody a dime.
Check out this table I created comparing the two ideas. Detail behind this table can be found by clicking here. I’d be interested in your opinion on the matter.
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