In no particular order:
- The rich are getting richer faster than the rest of us.
- Real wages are stagnant. Social safety nets are constantly being removed.
- Labor protections have been being rolled back or enforcement lax since the ATC strike.
- Atomization and alienation have taken root.
- The mythos of the nuclear family being paramount is fully embedded in the culture, destroying the older concept of a broader family and community taking part in the rearing of the next generation and just general socialization.
- We’re heading to the failure of multiple systems, including food production and power, due to climate change and the increasing frequency of disastrous weather systems.
- "Greed is good" has been a value promulgated by the elites for a few generations now.
- Things are getting more expensive faster than wage growth, especially basics and things needed for economic upward mobility (housing, education, healthcare, etc).
- Identity politics and wedge issues are dividing people who otherwise have similar interests.
- Modern life is anxiety and depression inducing, creating a rise in interpersonal conflict.
- Our government is no longer accountable to the people or representative of them in any real way unless you’re in the top quintile of wealth/income (and that is generous).
All of these things, and many more, are ripping apart the social contract. People no longer feel invested in the wellbeing of the places in which they reside or the governmental and societal systems they are a part of. Instead, they merely endure them with resentment. This won’t end well.
UBI would solve all of that within a few years. We just did it, worldwide, in 2020 and most of 2021! Did the economy crumble? No. Did all that money given to people killed the economy? Also no. Many big companies recorded their best years ever.
That is the best proof you can possibly have that UBI works and would/will safe us.
We have the knowledge, the tools and still time to fix our issues. It’s embarrassing how the resistance to obvious solutions leads us further down the hole while people who could modify laws, who could heavily promote UBI are like “nah bro, it’s a done deal; you can apply for a gig at my tech company if you want the chance to get exploited real quick”.
Keep your head up.