• HexesofVexes@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Post shower toilet thought: Copyright isn’t there to protect the author, it’s there to create a multi-billion dollar legal industry.

    • deweydecibel@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Expect…no? Like, copyright gets abused a lot, but it’s still used for its intended purpose of protecting small time creators and artists all the time.

      • algorithmae@lemmy.one
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        1 year ago

        There’s nothing about abuse in the comment you replied to. In fact, the act of “protecting small time creators and artists” goes through the legal system, funding it like the commenter said…

      • lollow88@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Lemmy is full of people that have never created anything of value frothing at the mouth because they aren’t entitled other people’s creations. I wonder how long it would take them to change their tune if they actually created something worthwhile but got none of the recognition for it if IP laws didn’t exist.

        • Kedly@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Or, it could be that for once we got access to the same powerful tools the capitalists got access to, and we’re annoyed that the capitalists have been successful at convincing people the tech is evil so that the poors dont use it. (Morals have never stopped corporations from doing anything, so tech being “Evil” only ever stops the general public from using it)

          • lollow88@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            Only the capitalists have access to creating stuff? You do know you can just put in the practice and get good right?

            • Kedly@lemm.ee
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              Oh yeah sure. Lemme just dedicate another 5-10 years of my life to mastering a skill when I only have a few hours free a week to unwind after spending all my energy working full time.

              Edit: The funniest thing about this take is that the people who spout it think they are defending artists without realising that they are massively devaluing all the time effort and skill artists have put into their craft with the suggestion that basically any working class adult could do what they do if they wanted to

              Edit 2: I know its incredibly hard to believe, but some of us just want access to creative freedom, and dont particularly care about the skill that gives us said freedom. Even if I had the pen and paper skills to make my art from scratch, I’d STILL be using Stable Diffusion at this point as it massively speeds up the process, I’d just be doing heavier editing of the results than I already do, and would probably train a LORA off of my own art

              Edit: 3 Lmao entitled artists are BIG MAD. Techs not going away, and you’re burning out the empathy of those who could be convinced to use more ethical options as they arise. Instead you want to kill the tech entirely, and so the new generation of artists that use these new tools will ignore your input entirely. Your labour is being exploited, welcome to capitalism. You want change? Fix the systemic issues. You want sympathy? Stop being assholes. AI Generators can be run on personal computers now with no connection to the internet, Pandora’s Box is opened and cannot be closed again. Live with it.

              • lollow88@lemmy.ml
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                1 year ago

                Why do you feel you’re owed the work of people who have spent those years without compensating them or even asking for that matter? You do realise that is unsustainable right?

                • Kedly@lemm.ee
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                  1 year ago

                  Because I disagree on whether or not it is theft. I watch the program generate the images from blots and then add more details. The images are made from scratch with techniques learned from the things it trained on. Its not a 1-1 comparison to how a human learns, but its closer than anything before it has been. Most artists have traced or done other taboo forms of learning in the process of acquiring their skills before they have the skillset to charge money for their work, and they CERTAINLY have benefited from thousands of years of art history and culture. Its not as black and white as artists want to make it out to be, its not squeeky fucking clean either, as more ethical options arise, I will use those. But this tech is amazing and has the potential to dramatically change the art scene for the better once those with skills start adopting it more. It will allow more artists to break free from corporate sponsors, to take on bigger solo projects than they were able to before. At the end of the day, its Capitalism stealing work from artists, not the machine. This whole debacle has reminded me that what stopped me from entering the arts as a child was the elitism.

        • explodicle@local106.com
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          1 year ago

          FWIW I’ve been creating IP as a career for a long time. I still want what OP wants, a UBI instead.

          This is where people usually suggest that I start unilaterally sharing my work right now, ignoring the economic assumptions behind why a UBI would be necessary to replace IP.

          • lollow88@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            I’m in your same position and fully agree. An UBI would be way better… but until that exists it’s not right that people make use of my work for their own profit.

  • ahal@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    You can’t give UBI to a subset of people. Then it’s not universal anymore.

    But if you did give artists a basic income, how much art would they need to produce to qualify? What qualifies as art? The law doesn’t do well with those kinds of questions.

    Better to implement true UBI. Give it to everyone, and afford more security to folks who want to focus on art.

      • Zippy@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Would you work harder or longer at your current job if you were paid say an unconditional 1000 per month and if not, how would productively increase to pay for it?

        I will get down voted but no one will have a good answer for this.

        • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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          There’s actual experiments that have been done on this and every experiment has said that people don’t quit their jobs they carry on doing their jobs and they just have a better standard of living than the otherwise would have had.

          It’d be really great if you could actually look this stuff up before making comments

          • Zippy@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Actually Manitoba Canada did one of the biggest experiments and the best that came out of it was productivity fell less than expected. So no your statement does not support that.

            More so this post suggest more people would do things like art which is absolutely suggesting productivity will fall.

            And seriously are you telling me you wouldn’t retire earlier if you were paid a significant amount over your lifetime? I can bs on people working just as hard if they didn’t have to.

    • Kedly@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Pretty sure OP meant UBI for everyone, as in its a much better fight than the fight against AI Art

    • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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      1 year ago

      The solution is UBI and then tax incomes. It gives everyone the opportunity to persue goals, and if you make enough extra it is taxes to pay for everyone else to have the same opportunity. Persue art if you wish. If it’s successful you’ll get to pay it forward. You don’t have to struggle to just survive while pursuing those goals.

      • Zippy@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        So if 5 percent of the workforce pursues other endeavors such as the arts or retirees sooner, and certainly people will retire sooner, where do you find the people to take out your garbage when 5 percent of them quit?

    • MrSilkworm@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I completely agree on giving UBI to everyone, Imagine a world without artists. Without movies, TV shows, theaters, musicals, museums, books, music, sculpture, paintings, architecture.

      Imagine how dull everything would be, without the creativity and imagination of these people out to use. But nowaday people just say Y0u_sH0uLd_sTuDy_SoMeThInG_t0_hAvE_iNc0mE, ignoring the consequences of the absence of arts

    • Seasoned_Greetings@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      My town, in a surprisingly conservative part of Louisiana, has an artist residency. They pay $700/month and supply a studio to 3 artists for 9 months out of the year.

      The hours are whenever the artist has the time (so as not to interfere with their jobs), and the stipulation is that they have to be available twice a month to teach evening classes about their individual style. They have to have enough pieces by the end to fill a show, as determined by the board that assigned them for the year. But there’s no hard number of art pieces required.

      All this to say that it can be done. Even if right now it’s just a few artists a year in one town, the concept is there.

    • sock@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      im an upcoming starving artist (graphic designer) we def do not need a UBI for artists specifically my peers will take any excuse to not do anything.

      but a ubi for all would be fire and likely increase productivity in everyway over time.

      • CashewNut 🏴󠁢󠁥󠁧󠁿@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Graphic designers are not part of this. You guys can make a fucking killing designing everything from flyers, billboards, websites and bloody corporate logos.

        I know a few British graphic designers. One made a logo for the US government in 1hr. They gave him $10k for it. He lives in a £1M mansion and works from home maybe 4hrs per day.

        I don’t think I’ve ever met a poor graphic designer.

  • Fizz@lemmy.nz
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    1 year ago

    Now that’s a cooked thought. How hot was your shower

  • 31415926535@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    On SSI right now. My art has exploded recently because I have a lot of time. Every day, at least one complete piece. Still pretty poor, struggling financially. But oil pastels, gesso, baby oil, cotton balls, piece of plastic… because free time, I’m excitedly experimenting, create pieces deeply layered, sculptural. Was never possible when employed.

    • VieuxQueb@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      That was my tough, artist’s need raw material to work with wich is not free, having a UBI let’s artist’s buy the thing they need to create art and then mabe make some extra income.

      • OrderedChaos@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        What I’m realizing more and more is that we don’t have to buy materials from stores to make art. There are tons of videos out there showing how to make natural paints, paper, pastels, etc from local resources. I think so many people just can’t be bothered.

      • 31415926535@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        I’m struggling with that. My red, orange, blue oil pastels are running out. But have a bunch of brown, grey hues left. So forcing me to adapt. Also, was struggling to figure out how to add layering, depth, large areas of white space. But just one tiny white oil pastel. That forced me to experiment with using gesso as a medium. Initially, just to more cheaply add more white space. But realized gesso is amazing, can be sculpted, if you sculpt patterns, or carve lines into gesso, let it dry… when you lightly run oil pastel over the dried gesso…

        Poverty, limited means can be useful. Necessity breeds adaptation.

    • deweydecibel@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      All of which is your work.

      They’re suggesting UBI in place of copyright. So all that work your doing right now could be stolen by others and sold for cheaper than you would sell it, without your permission. So companies like Disney can just take it and put it in a movie or something, without paying you.

      All you would get would be your UBI, they would get the profit.

      • Kedly@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        They are suggesting focussing on UBI instead of getting angry at AI art as a bandaid for capitalism taking artists jobs away, because, spoiler alert, capitalism is going to keep using advances in tech to take all of our well paying jobs away. One solution gives us all a way to live, the other stems the tide for a TINY bit for ONE category of workers

  • shrugal@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    UBI and copyright are not mutually exclusive. Why wouldn’t artists want to earn more on top for the work they do and the value they create, like every other profession?!

      • firadin@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Not when work takes a large amount of time to produce the original, and very little work to produce a copy. An original and a copy of a digital artwork are identical.

        • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 year ago

          Not when work takes a large amount of time to produce the original, and very little work to produce a copy

          if you’ve never seen someone sell their own creative work without the trappings of a government enforced monopoly, you should look into how any author or artist got paid before the statute of anne.

      • shrugal@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Monopolies are not about exclusively for one specific thing, but about scale and the availability of alternatives. It’s not like you can only buy pictures or music from one artist, just that you have to buy art from the artist who made it.

        • rchive@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          In a sense it is a monopoly, just a very narrow one. The first step to identifying a monopoly is identifying the relevant market, and that is quite hard to do, actually.

          • shrugal@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            The contradiction is that you imply copyright is always a government enforced monopoly. It can be, but it usually isn’t, especially with art. So using it as a counter argument here makes no sense.

            • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              1 year ago

              copyright is always a government enforced monopoly.

              that’s the only thing it is. it’s a law that grants exclusive rights to sell. how do you think it’s not in relation to art?

              • shrugal@lemm.ee
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                1 year ago

                Exclusive rights and monopolies are not the same thing. Monopolies are about access to a category of things or services that fulfill a need, not one specific thing. E.g. Samsung has exclusive rights to sell Samsung TVs, but they don’t have a monopoly on TVs, and talking about a monopoly on Samsung TVs specifically makes no sense. Similarly no one has a monopoly on landscape drawings, rock music or scifi movies, just exclusive rights to specific pieces of art or literature that they created.

                As a side note, patents are a different story imo. Because overly broad patents can actually give you exclusive access to an entire category, and therefore a real monopoly. But you can’t patent art.

      • Girru00@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Can you explain how government enforced monopolies intersects with the discussion here?

        • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 year ago

          that’s what copyright and patent are. but you don’t need to use the cudgel of the law to sell your work. in fact, most times, it’s an irrelevant factor.

  • cdegallo@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    The creation can possibly have monetary value, thus the protection. How much is up to society.

    This isn’t a good argument for UBI.

    • chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      It’s a good argument because artificially constraining the supply to simulate “monetary value” destroys most of the actual value it could have by being available to everyone. The “protection” is a harmful kludge that only has to exist because we insist on making everyone measure their value with the market.

      • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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        1 year ago

        I don’t think that tracks though. If we all lived in universal basic income world I don’t think the idea of copyright would be given up. People would still want to be compensated for their work, universal basic income doesn’t get rid of capitalism, it just gets rid of the less desirable aspects of it.

        We would still have money but it would change in its nature. Instead of needing it in order to survive you would simply need it in order to improve your lot above whatever base level the theoretical society decided on. You would still need copyright to enforce your right to compensation and prevent others from taking credit for your work.

        • chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 year ago

          To me copyright is one of the more undesirable aspects of capitalism, for the reason I mentioned. I don’t think you really have a right to prosecute people for copying, repurposing and remixing the stuff you’ve made just so you can personally profit, that would be just selfishness if it wasn’t something of a necessary evil to make sure creators can have a way to survive.

    • nephs@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Unfortunately, “society” doesn’t control most of the value of anything. The monopolists do.

      So the only really valuable kind of art is the art that can be used for speculation and money laundering.

  • MedicsOfAnarchy@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Give artists a basic universal income, and I guarantee every single person on earth will suddenly discover their “inner Picasso” to qualify.

    • ultratiem@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      You say that like that would be bad.

      Who fights for having people in braindead jobs, working unsafe conditions, Christ almighty. Check please.

      • Wogi@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        You can debate the merits of some work, you can debate the amount people are compensated for that work. But what is absolutely not debatable is that we actually need people to do work for us to contribute to function as a society. Some of that work that’s absolutely necessary is both dangerous and nigh impossible to automate. Do we need another Starbucks? No, absolutely not. But we will still need places to be built, and infrastructure maintained. There’s really no escaping that.

        • AltheaHunter@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          That’s why it’s a basic income. Enough to keep you housed, clothed and fed. Your clothes might be thrifted, your apartment small, and your diet mostly instant ramen, but your basic needs will be covered. Plenty of people would still work hard to get more than the basics.

          • Wogi@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Why not just guarantee those things for everyone?

            Guaranteed housing, guaranteed food, guaranteed clothing. No work required. I agree with you, I think most people will still work with all of that taken care of. Because it’s just basic.

            • Infynis@midwest.social
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              That’s what a universal basic income does. It’s way simpler and more likely to succeed than a hundred different programs for everything people need. Studies show that poor people, when given money, don’t misuse it, like some would have you believe. They use it on things they need, but otherwise couldn’t afford, like housing, healthcare, car repairs, things like that. It’s even good for the economy

              • volvoxvsmarla @lemm.ee
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                1 year ago

                I’m sure there are already answers to this question l, but wouldn’t a basic universal income lead to some inflation/price rises?

                I live in the most expensive city in my country and rent is insane. It’s not about finding a cheaper apartment or a smaller one because there are none or you won’t get them. They are not taking in a family of three into less than a three room apartment and sometimes even three room apartments are considered too small for a family with one little kid. And to be clear, if you are long term unemployed, the government pays for your housing. Theoretically. You still have to find a suitable apartment and there.are.none.

                I would much rather have someone provide me guaranteed housing for free than to fear that my basic universal income will at some point not even be enough to cover my rent, even if it is just “basic”. But to me, “basic” in this sense would equal survival. It would mean housing, food, healthcare. I much rather take these things directly than make use of a small amount of money that will always be too little and end up having to choose between the cheapest cereal or the cheapest bread because I cannot afford both this month. Money and freedom to spend it as you wish is great, but I just cannot imagine how this would work. Apartments won’t magically keep their prices or appear out of thin air.

                I’m sorry if this comment is too focused on housing, it is just the most anxiety evoking example I have. (And also we are moving in two weeks so maybe I am a bit preoccupied.)

                • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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                  1 year ago

                  It would lead to increased demand for goods poor people consume, and decreased demand for goods rich people consume. It’s a continual wealth transfer down the hierarchy.

                  In the short run the increased demand would probably lead to increased prices. In the longer run it would lead to more market investment, more production, more innovation, and by those two factors, lower prices.

                  Now if your basic income takes the form of newly printed money, that’s a whole new thing and would suck a lot.

                • MNByChoice@midwest.social
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                  1 year ago

                  I am sure there is an official answer, but I am going to wing it.

                  Inflation is from too much money chasing too few goods.

                  UBI will free you from having to live in a specific place. Or if not you, some of your neighbors.

                  Guaranteed housing tends to be shitty. Think of the worst people running the program and them hitting the lowest standards most times.

                  With money, you can decide the housing trade-offs. Save money on rent and spend more elsewhere, or the reverse. With money, you have flexibility.

            • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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              1 year ago

              The reason UBI is better than that is it still allows market forces to operate on those goods, improving them over time due to competition and innovation.

              Also if someone wants to use their housing money for extra clothes instead and just couch surf, they should be allowed to do that. Granting money provides freedom of choice with it.

              • Wogi@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Who says the market can’t operate there? Providing a basic version of anything doesn’t mean an organization can’t compete. They just have to compete with basic. Most people will want something better.

          • Pasta4u@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Who would work at Starbucks if you get a living wage making shitty art ?

            Is there even a quota needed in this? Can I make one piece of art a week that takes ten minutes and I get my living wage ?

            Why would I work 40 hours dealing with any customer. Why would I work in a field picking crops or at a construction site ?

            I’ll join hunter Biden making blow art and getting g paid

            • Tenniswaffles@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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              It’ll increase demand, which should in theory increase wages for those jobs. A universal basic income is “basic” in the sense that it’s the minimum to survive in society. There will still be plenty of people who want more and are therefore willing to do those jobs.

              • Pasta4u@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Except that people will only pay so much for a cup of coffee. So how much do you need to pay a retail employee to come back to work over what ubi pays and how much will the products rise in cost to off set that

                • Infynis@midwest.social
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                  Sounds like you just identified a business that shouldn’t exist. If a company can’t afford to pay people what they need to survive, and still make a profit, the company needs to change, or shut down. That’s supposed to be the essence of the free market

                • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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                  If people will only pay so much for a cup of coffee, that’s capitalist for “coffee ain’t that big a deal”.

                • Garbanzo@lemmy.world
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                  how much do you need to pay a retail employee to come back to work

                  Probably a lot less than you’d think. With UBI there’s no need for a minimum wage so if you’re offering a great work environment you could pay next to nothing for labor. If the job that needs done is inherently shitty you might have to pay more, but that’s already how it is for quite a few things.

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          1 year ago

          But what is absolutely not debatable is that we actually need people to do work for us

          Citation needed.

          to contribute to function as a society

          As if that’s a worthy goal.

      • Zippy@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        So your ok if your garbage does not get taken out or if that many less people want to be doctors and nurses?

      • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Probably someone who sees a causal connection between unpleasant work and pleasant outcomes later.

        I mean if work was an end unto itself it doesn’t make much sense to go do things you don’t feel like doing. But once you connect the present moment of facing unpleasantness to the future payoff of the work, it makes more sense.

        • Gabu@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Most office work for company conglomerate X? Completely useless to society. The whole of Wall Street? Completely useless to society. In fact, most jobs in any field which isn’t STEM R&D are largely superfluous. So, what was your point again?

      • helenslunch@feddit.nl
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        1 year ago

        You say that like that would be bad.

        There’s work to be done. Everyone can’t be an artist. It’s exactly why they’re not paid well to do it. It’s a high-supply, low-demand job.

        You people are living in a fantasy land.

        • PsychedSy@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          We got fat on the third world and people think we can just say “fuck you, got mine” to the rest of the planet.

        • ultratiem@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          “Artists” make everything you touch or look at. Unless you define “artist” as someone who drinks all day, and whips paint at blank canvass.

          UI-UX artists design the way programs look and function. Game artists build the worlds we play in. Architecture. Indoor decor. Even the cool looking rug you got at IKEA… designed by an industrial artist.

          We are everywhere. Coming up with cool looking phones, apps, OSes, and yes, sculptures and paintings too. So you’re right, there is work to be done. There is so much skill and investment into the life of artist. You’d know if you ever spent a day in their shoes.

        • SatanicNotMessianic@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          That’s exactly how it works. That’s why it’s called “universal” basic income. Let’s say we set the UBI to $10k per year, just to make a number up. I know that’s not a living wage, I just want an easy number. If someone has $0 income for the year (because they had to stay at home and take care of their parents), they get $10k. If someone made $500k as a banker, they also get $10k. Now, the banker is going to be paying about $250k in taxes while the carer would pay $0, but they’d both get the same amount of money.

          Alaska and some countries do this out of an oil fund. The idea there is that the oil in the ground belongs to the people, who must be compensated for its extraction. I think the Alaska fund is around $3k or something like that. UBI would be the same but funded via taxes on individuals and companies.

          If it’s less than you can live on, you’d still need to work and it would supplement your income or pay for a vacation or something. If it’s enough to live on, you could do what you like (including making more money by taking on a job, or go off and paint, or just go fishing or whatever.

        • Delphia@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Actually that is how one way of rolling it out works.

          EVERYONE gets it, which makes administrating the whole deal very easy. No application process, no means testing, nothing. You give it to everyone and tax higher to cover it.

          • Throwaway@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Ok, who will grow food? Who will truck it to grocery stores? Who will work at the store?

            • hperrin@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              People will still work. UBI is enough that you’re not on the street, not enough that you’re living the high life.

              Some people will go to school instead of working, and that’s good. They’ll get even better jobs than they would have otherwise, and give back way more to society in productivity and taxes.

              Some people might be fine living the basic life that UBI affords, and who cares. Let them live their basic life. We can afford it.

                • spacecowboy@sh.itjust.works
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                  You clearly haven’t. People don’t just sit at home and collect UBI. People are clearly addicted to consumerism, and that requires having a job. People also enjoy working.

                  You don’t have a critical mind and you aren’t discussing this in good faith because you clearly think if UBI was enacted that people would all become lazy and sit and home and do nothing. That you think this way shows everyone that you HAVENT done any research or reading on UBI.

                • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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                  1 year ago

                  You’re right. If no one works, people starve.

                  There’s no reason to assume nobody would work under UBI though.

            • m-p{3}@lemmy.ca
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              UBI desn’t mean that you stop working, it’s just that everyone receives a share of money, at least enough so that you don’t end up on the street if you end up without a job. Easier to bounce back. The rest is additional income on top of UBI.

              Personally I’d get bored shitless if I didn’t work, I need some fulfillment, a purpose. If having UBI gives more people a fair chance at achieving their life goals then I’m all for it.

              The people you’re thinking of, in terms of laziness are always going to exist no matter what. You know who else doesn’t work and leeches of society? The oligarchs. The exact same people that are scared of UBI and will lobby as hard as possible to stop that from happening.

              • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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                Also like, our society already does provide free food and shelter to people. All it asks is some basic niceties like “quiet after 11pm” or “don’t poop in the shower”.

                I know. I’ve been homeless, been very well fed and very well protected from the elements, and well-clothed too, entirely for free.

                People act like our society just lets people drop and that’s not true. We’ve got free resources out the wazoo for people.

                But there are a lot of people for whom availability of resources isn’t the problem.

                This is my way of saying that, even with UBI, there will be homeless people.

                And conservatives will say “we give that guy $1000 a month and he sits there and shoots heroin in the park all day … I’m not giving him any more” and liberals will say “You know $1000 a month isn’t that much money and we should be offering free counseling”.

                Then a decade later there will be that guy who shits on the park bench and rips smelly farts in his counseling sessions and doesn’t do the work.

                As a society we’ve basically solved the problems that can be solved with free food and housing because … well because we have that as a feature of our society already,

                One thing that makes UBI better than what we have now, is the fact it’s not a perverse incentive structure.

                Right now all the free shit we give people is based on them “demonstrating need”. This means if they want to rise out of poverty, they need to go through a weird, unnatural zone on their work-to-benefit curve that’s flat, They do more work, and see no benefit.

                Or if the program is really badly designed, it’s not just level it slopes down. Like you get a $200/mo raise, it puts you over a threshold, and you lose your $500/mo EBT benefits.

                That kind of thing is toxic and evil. That’s like pushing crack on kids. Except instead of little identifiable crystals it’s at least easy to conceptualize saying “no” to, the dopamine-ruining substance is ethereal and takes the form of tables showing income thresholds in little pamphlets in government offices. Instead of a 10-second timeframe where you either hit that pipe or not, the game a person has to play with our welfare system has rounds lasting months at a time. It’s insidious and evil.

                And if you’re in a position to receive this welfare, everyone on your side is encouraging you to take it.

                And UBI doesn’t suffer from that mental-health-destroying, prefrontal-cortex-shrinking pattern. It’s giving with a truly open hand. It’s a ladder that doesn’t extract a price in bone density for each rung you climb.

              • Wogi@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Let’s say you’re a scummy piece of shit landlord. It’s a bit redundant I know but just bear with me.

                You’re a scummy piece of shit landlord (SPOSL) and you know for a fact that every single one of your tenants suddenly can afford 2000 extra dollars per month. You’re probably not going to get away with taking all of that, but you’re a SPOSL, you’re definitely going to try to get some.

                You also know that housing is being treated as a commodity so your tenants don’t have anywhere else to go, and that because all landlords are SPOSLs, you know they’ll all be doing the same thing.

                Suddenly rent goes up across the board. They only people safe are the people in fixed rate mortgages.

                But they’re only safe from that one particular kind of price gouging.

                Unless you’re on a very fixed contact, everything you pay monthly for suddenly got more expensive over night. Your Internet will be going up, your phone bill will be going up, maybe not immediately, but when you renew.

                Any common household item built down to a price, basically anything that can shrinkflate, when everyone has more money, will inflate instead. Because they know that consumers have more to spend, and won’t look at the price as closely as they used to.

                Basically everyone, simultaneously, moves up on the doesn’t spendability side. And so prices move to adjust accordingly.

                UBI works in small scale experiments because small scale experiments don’t have this effect. No one knows who’s getting more money and the market can’t adjust. But the market will adjust where it can.

                I know it sounds nice, but it’s not the golden ticket it’s being made out to be.

                Address healthcare, address housing, do it all independently of UBI so that hopefully it never becomes required.

                To be clear I have absolutely no problem with guaranteeing basic needs are met, I think that’s a great idea. UBI does not do that.

                • m-p{3}@lemmy.ca
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                  1 year ago

                  Another issue is that housing is perceived as an investment. There would have to be some policies to be put in place to avoid abuse for sure.

                  • For example, have a public registry that lists the rental price history of each apartment.
                  • Have a tenant board managed by the government, that handles disputes between the landlords and tenants.
                  • Maximum raise allowed per year, indexed to the inflation, with some exemption if there is a major renovation that was done (with proper documentation)
                  • If the landlord isn’t fixing a major issue within reasonable time, the rent can be deposited into a bank account controlled by the tenant board and held until the repairs are considered as acceptable by the board.
                  • Have the government provide monetary incentives to build more low-income apartments, and mandate that xx% of new construction is dedicated to those per year l, depending on the availability.
                • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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                  Everyone doesn’t have more spending power under UBI; some people would be paying more in taxes than they’re getting back from the pool.

                  But yeah, if you give everyone in a certain group more money to spend, that’s more demand and hence higher prices assuming fixed supply.

                  So really, to avoid that issue with housing, you’d need to reduce friction to increasing supply. Maybe that means letting people build higher density housing without having to wait for the government to re-zone from low to high density. Or removing the minimum size on apartments, whatever.

                  Point is your market will adapt to the newly-super-profitable endeavor of landlording, by providing more housing.

                  Because as long as there’s any vacant housing, landlords are not free to price fix however they see fit. I mean they could if they were all in cahoots, but they’re not. They’re in competition.