Zuckerberg advocates that a social safety net would give everyone the freedom to try new things. One way to do that, he says, is to give cash handouts to every person in the U.S., regardless of employment status. The idea is known as universal basic income (UBI).
Billionaire tech titan Elon Musk also says that government cash handouts are a virtual inevitability in the U.S., because robots will rapidly replace low-skilled jobs.
Zuckerberg espoused the benefits of free money when he visited Alaska recently as well. The state has a program that distributes excess oil revenues to every citizen as a cash dividend.
Though a national universal basic income may require an increase in taxes, it’s worth it says Zuckerberg on Sunday’s Facebook Live.
“Right now, when there are all these people who don’t have the opportunity to go pursue their dreams or go build a new business, we all lose,” he says via Facebook live.
“If you who are watching this had more opportunity to go build something that would be a historic business or enterprise that could serve people all around the world, that would improve the economy and give services to all of us that we could all benefit from.”
See also:
Elon Musk: Robots will take your jobs, government will have to pay your wage
Elon Musk says robots will push us to a universal basic income—here’s how it would work
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