Social Security
Social security is a divisive topic and universal basic income even more so. I do not believe a fiat world is possible without handouts and I dislike it when people call recipients of social security lazy, since in a fiat world, someone has to receive handouts. In fact, I would argue that in a fiat world, most people receive handouts in one form or another, which just means the pot is indeed calling the kettle black.
What does social security have to do with bullshit jobs? Well, in another post I discuss fiat jobs, and I argue that bullshit accretes near the money printer. Seeing as how these jobs produce absolutely nothing and it can, in fact, be argued that they destroy value, does it not mean that any salary collected from such an activity comes in the form of a handout from the labour of someone else? Technically in this case it is the money printer doing the work, but either way, just because the paycheck of a pointless white collar worker is stamped by a seemingly private enterprise does not mean it was actually earned any more than a check directly from the government.
The only difference between a handout that comes directly from government and a paycheck from the money printer is which one you qualify for. To qualify for welfare, you usually need to be unemployed, probably have dependents and a list of other reasonable criteria to meet. Conversely, in order to qualify for a bullshit job paycheck, you need a degree from a fancy university. This usually guarantees you a position near the money printer.
Typically, the argument around social security and, increasingly, UBI, is that of financing. “Who will pay for it?” Well, the same people who are paying for it already. Low and middle-income earners who are taxed and who cannot take on a lot of debt. Can we afford to pay everyone a universal basic income? Probably, but it would require slashing the salaries of bullshit jobs, and they will fight tooth and nail to keep their cushy do-nothing jobs. I know I would fight it, so it is unlikely to happen.
In a fiat world, the challenge is not funding social security, it is about deciding who gets it. We have decided that the most deserving of money for nothing are well-educated office workers who invent positions and jobs for themselves and each other in the hopes that they can retire before anyone finds them out. At the same time, they (we) publicly look down and shame people for collecting a government check, “I went to school, you could too”. No, they can’t go to school, dummy - because even though we actively try to invent more and more bullshit jobs, there simply aren’t enough of them to go around.
Bitcoin fixes this.