The is a lot of talk about UBI, or Universal Basic Income.
Much of this started in response to the growing income inequality problem in the Western countries. This was coupled by the fact that many believe technological automation will replace millions of jobs in a short period of time. While there could be new jobs created, the skills required to fill those roles are not present in the people who are most at risk.
The idea was favored by a number of tech people like Elon Musk and Richard Branson. Many blew off the notion yet I find that curious since these are the type of guys who are working on projects that will destroy the jobs (if successful).
With the pace of automation, it is hard to argue against the concept.
Many of us are aware that money is just a con game, at least the present system we are operating under. The bankers use it as a tool to acquire real wealth. They create it out of thin air and loan it out. The problem is what is loaned comes with interest tied to it. Since they are creating the money (and the principle only) where does the interest come from. This is the key to their game. There is not enough money around to cover the debt. Hence, people with loans such as homeowners find their assets, which are real, taken from them because they cannot pay back the imaginary interest on money that was created on a computer screen.
The tool in this game is the government. This system only enslaves people. Anytime the government is involved, you can be two things are sought after. They will want more money coming their way and seek to have more dependence upon them. A look at the present system reveals that.
Cryptocurrency is a different world. We do not operate under the same principles. A crypto-economy is radically different from the one we are accustomed to. As this spreads, the major differences are starting to become evident.
The following is some speculation about what is going to take place the first part of June yet it does drive home the point.
There are rumors that Block.One is going to put 37M EOS in a smart contract that will serve to create a basic income. Obviously, there are no details of how that will look although people are guessing that a Digitial ID system will be released at the same time.
This is a very interesting idea. Not only does it speak to the problems I mentioned above, it also is a sound marketing strategy. I sent a similar idea to a couple people with this same thing over the past month although I was tying to the value of the token to something else. Either way, this is something that could on-board a lot of users.
If we look at blockchain ecosystems and individuals communities, we can see how this looks similar to a city or state offering UBI. Taking it further, can individual projects do the same thing? How about an Actifit basic income? Could it do something through the use of AFIT (or another token) to stimulate activity?
There is a central theme around building a crypto-economic system. For it to be successful, people need to use the token. This is where the challenge has, thus far, come in. A large part of it is the development of other entities tied to these systems is not created yet.
When we get down to the basic level, why do we use the USD or EURO? What is it about that currency which made up transact using that one? The answer is because that is what we have. We are paid in a fiat which we had no choice in. Since USD, for example, is in our accounts, that is what we use.
Coins can be marketing tools. Having a basic income device with one's name on it helps to spread word about the project. Since the world of crypto is "opt-in", the value of a token is going to be tied to the ecosystem it is a part of.
If we do see a Digital ID system created, could Steemit Inc put their 50M ninja-mined STEEM up for a project like this? Could individual projects use this as a way to really accelerate the growth of their ecosystems?
Someone posted a Tweet conversation with Dan Larimer that I came across. He basically said there is no point to the marketing until the problem of on-boarding users is solved. This makes a lot of sense.
It will be interesting to see how all this unfolds. We are embarking upon an age when new ideas can spread like wildfire.
So what do you think, can projects use the UBI concept as marketing tools?
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