So, to conclude, how the hell do we legislate for the above morality in Free Market Capitalism?
Maybe Digi is on the money with a UBI?
Maybe the Nordic countries are on the money by just being ethical?
I'm actually not entirely convinced UBI is the answer, at least not without first addressing / mitigating some other issues first - such as housing / rent costs (we all know what happens when the governement says stuff like 'hey, we'll grant you $X so you can afford Y" - the people who sell Y go "great! now you can afford to pay $Z + $X!").
Just on that topic, and to tie in with chameleon's post as well, I was on a Centrelink payment some years back, and it included rent assistance. I recall receiving a letter from them a couple of times that said "due to an increase in the cost of living, the amount of rent you must pay before you qualify for rent assistance has increased" - in a nutshell, they were letters advising me of a decrease in rent assistance (and therefore overall payment amount), because the cost of living increased. If that isn't a perfect example of Australian bureaucratic logic, I dunno what is.
But, at the same time, part of the reason the idea is gaining traction is because of the rapid decline of job availability (increasing population, working longer until retirement, and the big one, automation), so a UBI would guarantee (at least somewhat) the stability of society if we reach a point where work isn't actually an option for some people, and it would at least keep capitalism limping along in such a society if we can't think of anything better, because everyone (no matter what) would essentially become consumers, passive or otherwise.
