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The First Basic Income Experiment in Germany Will Start in 2019 (basicincome.org)
Basic income is going to be tested in Germany next year. From a report: The setup of the experiment will be similar to the one now ending in Finland, which means there will be an unconditional cash transfer to 250 randomly selected people among those already receiving benefits (250 others will act as the control group), and evaluate the impact in terms of labor market behavior, health and social relations. Behind this initiative, to be initiated in May 2019, is the Sanktionsfrei organization, a non-profit managed by volunteer professionals from administration, IT-tech, communications and law. Sanktionsfrei (meaning "free from sanctions"), with headquarters in Berlin, specializes in helping sanctioned citizens by the Hartz IV social security system in Germany. It will conduct this experiment in Berlin, for a 3-year period, accepting volunteers who may apply for it through their website.
Yes, they are failing by design. Have you paid a sliver of attention to the structure of these things? They are always built with limits and targeting that make them not at all similar to UBI except for the "free money" part. The entire point of these trials is to discredit the concept of UBI through misdirection.
If you think there is any skill that won't be automated in the next five to twenty years, you are insane. There will still be jobs, but they will be fake jobs in which the wealthy are "assisted" by AI rather than replaced by it, to justify their continually rising status. If we don't start shooting soon, income inequality is going to be allowed to increase until there are two types of people: the ones going to Mars, and the ones who will die of orbital bombardment a generation later.
What continuously astounds me is people who dont understand that true UBI is actually a right wing/liberal concept.
Most people forget that UBI involves the REMOVAL of almost all other state payouts.
No pension, no unemployment, no housing, no sickness/disability benefit, no parental benefit, etc, etc.
State medical care is a gray area..
That is the reason UBI can function, because it removes a huge amount of corruption, bureaucracy, fraud, and inefficiency from the system and replaces it with something almost trivial to administer and deliver.
It removes the punishments for trying to succeed.
Politically, Socialists generally HATE UBI (at least those who understand it) as they believe the state is the best at decising how everything is distributed, and UBI is exactly the opposite of that.
Unfortunately it ALSO removes the states ability to reward and punish based on cash payouts to voters.
That is why it is never actually tried, and probably never will be, at least by a state - since it lowers their control.
I believe something needs to be done to keep society functioning if, as many expect, automation will lead to a fall in the demand for labour.
But I am skeptical of universal basic income, and there are aspects that for some strange reason never seem to be discussed:
1. Whose definition of basic? Is it subsistence, or some minimum of material comfort?
2. There are people with light mental illness who will still need social workers intervening in their management of adult responsibilities.
3. What happens if there's a change in technology or other societal change (could be global warming, or something else) that leads to a massive labour shortage?
4. Will there be inflation? Will changes in housing costs force people to relocate against their will?
5. Will people really be able to lead meaningful lives without employment? (Maybe you will, but will everyone?)