UBI and Maslow's Hierarchy

When I first came across the idea of universal basic income I wasn’t for it at all. My first thought was giving people money for nothing would make them lazy and contribute little to society. After looking deeper into it I realised I was wrong and not only is it a good idea, it’s a necessity.

With the rise of AI we are on the eve of an enormous job crisis. Projections show that in 5-10 years there will be few taxi drivers, truck drivers, call centre agents and factory workers. Even medical students are running from radiologist roles as AI can spot subtleties in grey that the human eye cannot. The impact AI is going to have can’t fully be realised at this point.

The average truck driver in the US (the most common job in 29 states) is a 49 year old male with a high school education. With government retraining programmes having a success rate of between 0-15% all these people won’t be able to just “find another job” as many suggest.

So they get UBI, now what? Do they just sit around watching Netflix all day?

Not according to Abraham Maslow, an American psychologist who’s theory (Maslow’s hierarchy) states that people must first satisfy lower level needs before being able to satisfy higher level needs.

He states that humans have a strong desire to achieve all that they can in life but their ability to do so is often disrupted by failure to meet their lower level and basic needs.

He put them into the 5 levels:

The bottom two levels are classed as basic needs. Needs that in todays world are all too common to not be met. Without them people are unable to get much, if any, genuine fulfilment from life.

When physiological needs like food, water and shelter are not met people are in survival mode and not thinking about safety needs like friends and family. When safety needs like employment, property and social stability are not met you’re not looking for a sense of belonging… and on we go up the pyramid.

Though as the name suggests UBI is not just for the unemployed. For someone in full time employment that’s getting by on a month to month basis having that extra income may allow them to save to put their kid through school or start that Buisness idea that they have always dreamed of.

It won’t make people lazy, it’ll inspire them to look upward and move forward.

Additionally, there is a clear correlation between inequality and crime. UBI will seriously help reduce inequality which in turn will reduce crime. A lower crime rate is something even those who oppose UBI would love to see in their communities.

Much like AI the impact Intercoin can have in communities can’t be fully realised at this time, though I’m sure it’ll play a pivotal roll in improving the lives of people and business around the world. It’s great to be involved and I look forward to the journey and I’m increasingly excited to see what the future holds.

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Omg when I first started reading this my initial thoughts about UBI were identical to yours. :100:

I thought wow what a way to motivate more people to not wanna work. As you have mentioned the average person does desire to do better. People will always agree and disagree on any topic, but there is no denying the system we use currently use is broken. Best news is Intercoin had the technology built to solve these problems!

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Yeah I actually argued against it at one point but I didn’t quite grasp what’s right around the corner.

Yeah the system is broken, though part of me (the conspiratorial part :joy:) thinks that it’s intentional in some way. Divide and conquer. Keep control by having us divided and arguing over politics, race, religion and separated by wealth/social status. United and strong communities are a frightening prospect for those “in power” - it’s supposed to be the other way around. That’s why this whole Web 3.0/DeFi movement is so important to give people their sovereignty back.

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I love the way you broke this down. The Physiological is absolutely the most important. Without air, water, food, shelter, sleep, clothing, reproduction there is no life. We need these vital and basic necessities to live. A community based UBI can assist with these things. Great article carts!

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Thanks Alisha :pray:t2: Yeah the bottom level has to be the most important. For someone that’s struggling, making sure they can guarantee food and shelter for their family will increase their happiness/quality of life more than anything. There’s no bigger fear in life and Intercoin can remove it.

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Thought i’d bump this after reading Daniels post regarding the Alaskan UBI study.

I too was one of those that believed UBI would have a negative effect on people/society, but the more you read the evidence suggests otherwise.

It seems that COVID chopped the legs out of the hierarchy, returning an incredible amount of people to the second phase of needing to satisfy one’s Safety Needs they previously had taken for granted. More people during the pandemic had to face resource scarcity, unemployment, and health risks than at any time since the Spanish Flu. When first and second order needs are personally threatened, people are more likely to view UBI as an effective tool that may previously have not been believers in.

In the wake of the recent instability across the banking sector, people are starting to look at crypto. But it’s also interesting to compare UBI vs Bank Loans as a way to introduce money into the economy, vis-a-vis the banks.

With bank loans (to businesses or individuals), bank underwriters take a guess on how things will be in a few years, and they could be wrong. On the other hand, with UBI being spent by people at local businesses, they don’t have to guess: they know what goods and services they need and want that week, and therefore the money goes to stuff people actually use.

I spoke at length about this in my interviews with Thomas Greco:

https://community.intercoin.app/t/interview-with-thomas-h-greco-community-currency-economist