The radical idea of handing cash to citizens regardless of whether they work has taken root in Europe. Now America’s tech elite is backing the concept – but why?Silicon Valley rarely talks politics – apart from,perhaps, to discuss the quickest ways of disrupting it. On the rare occasions that its leaders attain speak out, or it is usually to disparage the homeless,celebrate colonialism or complain about the hapless city regulators who are out to strangle the fragile artisans who gave us Uber and Airbnb.
Thus it is puzzling that America’s tech elites occupy become the world’s loudest proponents of basic income – an primitive but radical idea that has been embraced, for very different reasons and in very different forms, or by both left and lawful. From Marc Andreessen to Tim O’Reilly,Silicon Valley’s royalty seems intrigued by the prospect of handing out cash to ordinary citizens, regardless of whether they work or not.
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Source: theguardian.com