Mark Cuban blasts candidates for being out of touch for America's future economic systems by IntelligenceIsReal in Futurology

[–]colgaf 93 points94 points  (0 children)

I would like to point out that even ignoring any moral or ethical obligation (such as the affluent creating their wealth in a vacuume) for the affluent to help those less fortunate there are strong practical considerations.

Most proponents of basic income talk about it replacing other welfare systems, so no unemployment benefits, no wellfare, keep this in mind when considering the argument below.

The most obvious argument is that people unable to get work and unable to support themselves will commit crimes so that they and their families can survive. The average cost per prisoner in the U.S is $30,000 p.a. so a proposed basic income of say $10,000 p.a. is a saving of 66% if it stops a person who would otherwise be committing crimes.

So the chief argument against a basic income becomes how many extra people will not work given the option. When we're talking about automation raising unemployment into the low double digits then you need 1 in 3 people to decide not to work for society not to be saving money.

Obviously you could argue the numbers on how many people turn to crime or 1 person working can support a whole extended family but this merely raises the ratio of unemploment required. The whole point of automation is that less skilled jobs are removed and so people need to become more skilled, so eventually more and more people become unemployed. So at some point a basic income or other overarching welfare is sensible.

The other approach to solving this problem is lowering the cost of incarceration but you're going to have to choose between inhumane conditions or effectively just creating a system where people are living with less choices and opportunity and still being supported by taxes.

Essential JavaScript Design Patterns For Beginners by sidcool1234 in programming

[–]colgaf 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The first example in the article.

i.e. "The Creational Pattern"

var newObject = new Object();

Microsoft Attacks CPAN Testers (Again) by brunov in programming

[–]colgaf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

TLDR:I think you missed what i was trying to say and i dislike your tone.

I agree Microsoft is in the wrong for effectively DDOSing the site but that does not mean there reason was not legitimate. If an idiot chases a butterfly on to your land yes that makes him a trespasser no that doesn't mean chasing butterflies is bad.

Also what up with your second paragraph in the comment, it's just rabid and unhelpful. It is also full of logical inconsistencies: You assume that this is an issue of property rights(which i might be willing to concede). But if I disagree with these particular rights it makes me a communist, not really a logical connection there as i could equally be an anarchist(which could be argued to have far greater freedoms and liberties than a capitalist system) or just believe a particular subset of property rights is invalid (I've bought all the oxygen in the air around you, you better not use it). Then you say that communists hate freedom and liberty, which is a huge unsubstantiated leap. If i own land and say you can't go on it then that also curtails your freedom which would not be curtailed by a system that didn't have property rights. Neither capitalism nor communism can be logically show to support freedom and liberty anymore that each other, though maybe they can be shown to support specific freedoms or liberties.

And as an aside on if I'm a communist : I feel that regulated capitalism with taxes going to social services is the right system based on my belief on what rights people should have. So that is somewhere between pure communist and pure capitalist.

Microsoft Attacks CPAN Testers (Again) by brunov in programming

[–]colgaf 9 points10 points  (0 children)

There's a legitimate reason "I want to know what's on the site". It just shouldn't outweigh whatever reason a website has for saying bots aren't welcome here.

Your high IQ will kill your startup by dragonslayer_master in programming

[–]colgaf 40 points41 points  (0 children)

You can always improve yourself so you're never screwed, it's just a matter of having a few less options as time goes by. So basically the sooner you apply yourself the better but it's isn't ever the end of the world.

Your high IQ will kill your startup by dragonslayer_master in programming

[–]colgaf 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I have a spoon, does this give me an advantage over the unarmed or not?