Decreasing the surplus population
2021 04 14
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I was reading something recently that talked about UBI proponents being more focused on finding a way to make the solution they like work than looking at what needs to be solved first and finding a way to fix it. That's not an unfair criticism in some quarters.
However, I feel that coming at it from the problem perspective might be a bit too piecemeal, and isn't unlike what gets done now with different programs aimed at different things and none of them doing much of anything at all. Look at the situation with disabled folk in Canada, for example. Tens of thousands of people in legislated poverty screaming for help and being ignored - I see it daily, people are afraid - while the only real actions seem to involve means by which they might more easily die. Oh, how I wish that was an exaggeration, but it sure doesn't feel like one with Bill C-7 passing and the province creating directives on what priority to follow in triage for who gets COVID assistance first, and disabled people are, to put it politely, low on the ladder. (*)
Disabled people are not merely being ignored, they're being de-prioritised, devalued, shoved aside, and left to die. Especially when a financial boost now could actually save some of those people from ending up in an ICU in the first place, and allow those able to contribute instead of being made to feel like nothing more than nothing.
With the future increases in those heading for long-term care as our population ages, one can't help but feel the slight paranoia that someone out there is hoping to be … unburdened.
* I understand that choices have to be made, and I do feel badly for the people that have to make them. But, when coupled with everything else, it's … dispiriting. Understand, too, that I'm pro-basic income, but if there's a better way to go about things I'd be happy to hear it.