<
https://www.scottsantens.com/the-toothpaste-argument-for-universal-basic-income-ubi-gotz-werner/>
"The following argument is based on the words of the late Götz Werner, who was
a long-time supporter of the concept of unconditional basic income in Germany,
who gained a unique understanding of UBI as a successful businessman and
billionaire co-founder of the drugstore chain “dm,” and who passed away in
2022.
In an interview given in 2012, Götz Werner said the following to help the
audience understand the concept of unconditional basic income:
“If you go shopping, and take a tube of toothpaste from a shelf then you all
think, when you go to the checkout, that you are paying for this toothpaste.
That is an error. Because the tube of toothpaste that you are taking from
the shelf is already paid for, is already paid, else it couldn't be on the
shelf. What you are paying at the checkout, is that you are enabling the
creation of another tube of toothpaste. That's how you have to see it.
Payment is never backwards-oriented. Payment is always forward-oriented.
Payment doesn't balance out, but when you are buying something, you are
ordering its continued production and sale.”
Hearing Werner’s take on production coming before consumption, which seems
entirely obvious, but for some reason isn’t, was a lightbulb for me years ago
when I first heard it. Once one properly understands that order of events, it’s
easier to recognize the importance of UBI as enabling work instead of rewarding
work."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
