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Regional secretary with the National Education Union
Rage, a wage and the machine
In a time of increasing mechanisation, ideas about a universal basic income are being raised. ALAN SIMPSON is sceptical
You are obsolete

IN a thought-provoking Guardian article, “As robots take our jobs, we need something else,” George Monbiot argued that the the future for humanity lies in voluntary work, underpinned by a universal basic income (UBI).

A slew of economists followed suit. Then the RSA joined in, suggesting that everyone under 55 be given £10,000 over two years to pursue training or caring activities.

They all begin from a premise that, as the RSA put it, “the link between hard work and fair pay has broken.”

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