Gabriella Leone
Jul 27, 2017 · 2 min read

Hi Cheney,

Sorry for the late reply, I have been overseas. I think that you have a very interesting POV however we are talking about two different things.

I could really get into a long discussion about your questions but in short-

  1. Some countries that are experimenting with UBI are using UBI as a secondary income (so the amount may be much more than $2500.00 in total) and in one country, as I cited in my piece, the amount proposed was exactly $2500.00 a month, without additional income.
  2. I am comparing what it is like to live on $2500.00 a month (before taxes) in one of the most expensive cities in the U.S where as you are saying you live in one of the poorest cities in the U.S where $2500.00 a month would be more than enough. In terms of cost of living, $2500.00 a month, (before taxes), in the current U.S economy, is not enough for all U.S citizens based off of where they live. For example, in Miami the average cost of rent is over $1000.00 and that is usually just the price of a studio which fits one, maybe two people. It may be enough for people who live in poorer cities, where the cost of living is lower, but it would not be enough for people who live in the top 10 most expensive cities in the U.S and more. So basically, it’s all relative to where you live. Also if you are making roughly 2–3k a month, you said you are scraping by which would mean that $2500/mo wouldn’t be enough for you either unless it was a secondary income.

How would it not work? Well, I discussed this in my piece but I never said it won’t ever work. I just don’t think the way things are with our society, govt, economy, etc, right now, UBI will work for all. The pros also agree, which you can read about, yet what the pros think is that UBI as a set number (with no additional work income) will not work in the U.S Instead, in the U.S UBI will serve as a secondary income, like it is in Alaska where citizens get something like an additional 1k a year. However, there is no amount of money that will help everyone because of relativity. The amount may help the poor, but never the rich, and prices of goods and rent would just increase causing the middle class to struggle.

    Gabriella Leone

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    I simplify technical terms creatively for a living and write stories about dystopian societies for fun. I’m also a millennial writing about millennials.