• voluble@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I’m an idiot, so please jump in here if I’m getting this wrong.

    Per the article, predicted program cost is $88 billion per year. Divide by Canada’s adult population of ~33 million, so, ~$2700 per person per year, minus administrative costs and bloat, so, say $2k per year.

    Well, I definitely wouldn’t turn down a cheque if I qualified for it, and I don’t want to come off as complaining about a program that doesn’t even exist yet. But, $2k doesn’t sound like an amount that any person could function on. That’s less than one month’s rent almost everywhere in this country. It’s like, a 6" subway sandwich per day. Something something middle class, I seem to remember a certain federal party saying during election time. Why not simply lower taxes in a targeted way?

    In what way is this amount ‘basic’? What’s the point of embarking on this whole investigative song & dance over a few extra bucks per day? What actually is the minimum amount necessary to function as an individual in this country? I think I know why the government isn’t investigating that question.

    I’m not against UBI as a concept. This $88b program, if that number is correct, seems like it’s not even worth investigating. Am I crazy?

    • n3m37h@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      The major problem is we need to nationalize a bunch of companies, take groceries for example. Were paying more than ever for the same stuff, workers wages are bare minimum and over working the staff as well so 1 person can get a multi million dollar wage? Let’s put that money back into the system instead of one assholes savings account in the Bahamas where it screws over the rest of Canadians