Do you think the United States government should guarantee a basic income to everyone? Why or why not?
Yes. With the Corona Virus Pandemic in play, many Americans have been left unemployed (Widerquist, 2020). With less money in circulation, most Americans are struggling to get basic requirements. With the current economy in America, inflation is the next thing that is about to face the country, and it will surely leave most Americans miserable. The UBI will help push the poverty bar a bit lower for the United States. Ideally, when a large part of the citizens cannot acquire their basic needs during a time of crisis, they are prone to become poor. However, with a little help from the government, they may be able to live a probably comfortable life. With many people arguing that the UBI is a subsidy that will eventually be recovered by the government once inflation strikes in, it is more important to help people survive the pandemic and economic landslide than letting them suffer to avoid further suffering. Most of them will probably not even get past the pandemic, and the government will still keep its funds and see its people slide into poverty.
Should this have requirements such as performing community or military service? If yes, what do you think those requirements should be?
Yes, I think there should be guidelines for people receiving the money. Ideally, the government would be doomed if the money was just given out for free. For some reason, the UBI is a subsidy that will be recovered eventually from high taxation, inflation, or free labor to the nation (Redman, 2020). Ideally, during this period, where the COVID-19 pandemic is at its peak, it would be difficult to let people out to serve the nation. However, it would be a good to volunteer to serve the nation so that the nation can reduce costs to support its citizens.
People should be enrolled for public services such as healthcare, military services and education to create an on going system. With particular precaution due to the pandemic at hand, people should be enrolled in shifts to promote social distancing to avoid the spread of the disease in each State.
What standard of living should this provide?
I recommend that the funding be basic. Leisure and entertainment expenses are at times more expensive than basic needs. With the population of the United States’ citizens in mind, offering leisure and entertainment funds to citizens will leave others without basic needs. Therefore, the UBI should be towards funding basic necessities for people who need it.
References
Redman, J. (2020, April 26). $2K per Month for Every American: Andrew Yang Begs Congress to Pass Basic Income. Retrieved from https://news.bitcoin.com/2k-per-month-for-every-american-andrew-yang-begs-congress-to-pass-basic-income/
Widerquist, K. (2020, March 20). America is in crisis. We need universal basic income now. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/20/america-coronavirus-recession-universal-basic-income