"When our grandparents built the hoover dam, the lincoln tunnel and the triborough bridge with a job guarantee that was just money for nothing - UBI with extra steps."

^ this would be an accurate representation of your opinion then?

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fluoridation 14 hours ago | parent [-]

That job guarantees exceptionally produce useful things doesn't mean that they don't overwhelmingly produce useless things, or things that are more expensive than they're worth.

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JumpCrisscross 14 hours ago | parent [-]

> doesn't mean that they don't overwhelmingly produce useless things, or things that are more expensive than they're worth

One could say the same thing about all the little art projects a hypothetical society on UBI might busy itself making. The pertinent difference seems to be one about scale and co-ordination. Job guarantees say we work together–through a centralised power–to build big things. Handing everyone cash leans more towards arts and crafts and consumption.

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fluoridation 13 hours ago | parent [-]

>Job guarantees say we work together–through a centralised power–to build big things. Handing everyone cash leans more towards arts and crafts and consumption.

Creating busywork doesn't strike me as a particularly worthwhile endeavor, compared to idleness.

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JumpCrisscross 10 hours ago | parent [-]

> Creating busywork doesn't strike me as a particularly worthwhile endeavor

Make work isn’t the same as busywork. As another comment mentioned, the Hoover Dam isn’t useless busywork.

	▲	fluoridation 9 hours ago \| parent [-]
		And as I mentioned, the Hoover dam is also not the typical example of the kinds of projects guaranteed job programs generate.