May 09, 2023 At 11:06 AM EDT
Newsweek recently welcomed eight high school students—from Denver, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C.—onto The Debate podcast for a series of special episodes, as part of the publication's new partnership with the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues (NAUDL). These recordings were done in anticipation of the students taking part in a live debate on April 14 at Newsweek's global headquarters in New York City's One World Trade Center.
The event signaled the beginning of an ongoing content initiative for Newsweek called Mightier, which covers youth debate and asks students to weigh in on some of society's most pressing issues.
The following excerpt, which has been lightly edited, is transcribed from a podcast debate on how the government could best handle the issue of workers losing their jobs due to automation and artificial intelligence. In the excerpt, debater Fabiola Diaz Lopez from the Silicon Valley Urban Debate League advocates for a guaranteed universal basic income. The full argument can be heard on Newsweek's The Debate podcast, below:
Imagine waking up one day to find that your job has been taken over by a machine, leaving you with no income and no prospects.
No problem, right? We've seen machines replace human jobs in the past, and we've always managed to create new jobs in other fields, but this time it's different. We stand at the cusp of a technological revolution that promises to be unlike anything humankind has experienced before.
Historically, new jobs and service industries are created when machines replace human jobs. The difference this time is that AI is coming for these jobs, and there's not going to be some magical new field for people to work in.
According to a report by Oxford Economics, the U.S. has lost over 260,000 jobs to automation since 2000, representing approximately 2 percent of the manufacturing workforce, with this figure continuing to increase at an exponential rate.
One thing is clear: Technological advancements pose a severe threat to people's livelihoods as they gradually render human labor redundant. For these reasons, I advocate for universal basic income, or UBI, as a solution.
UBI is a simple, powerful concept that could provide every citizen with a basic income adjusted for inflation, regardless of income level. This could be around $1,000 per month, and this financial cushion would offer those displaced by automation the dignity and security they need to live comfortably.
Moreover, the UBI has potential to inspire entrepreneurship and innovation.
Those who have lost those jobs to automation may feel more secure and willing to take risks with access to a guaranteed income. Those risks have tremendous benefits for the overall economy as people start their own businesses, experiment with new ideas or create startups.
The Roosevelt Institute suggests that implementing UBI could boost the economy by 12 percent, making it a powerful catalyst for economic progress, job creation, entrepreneurship and creativity.
Now, the trillion-dollar question: How are we gonna pay for this?
During his 2020 presidential campaign, Andrew Yang proposed implementing a UBI plan that would give every American adult $1,000 per month.
To pay for that plan, Yang suggested several funding sources, including a 10 percent value-added tax on goods and services, reduce government spending on social programs as fewer people would need them, increase economic growth through consumer spending, a carbon fee and dividend, and increased taxes on capital gains and financial transactions.
With careful planning and the culmination of these funding sources, a UBI program can be funded and [can] provide financial security for all Americans.
While it is true that American capitalism is built on the exchange of labor for survival, we should also consider the fact that working should not be the only means for survival.
AOC once said we should not be haunted by the specter of being automated out of work. We should be excited by that. But the reason we're not excited by it is because we live in a society where if you don't have a job, you are left to die.
A UBI would provide a safety net for those displaced by automation and allow them to transition into new industries or pursue entrepreneurial endeavors without fear of financial ruin.
In conclusion, UBI offers a powerful solution to the challenge of technological unemployment. It ensures that all Americans have benefits from automation, not just large corporations.
By providing a safety net, UBI empowers citizens to pursue their passions, take risks and contribute to society in meaningful ways. Let's start a conversation about UBI and take action to make it a reality.
The views expressed in this article may not necessarily reflect the personal beliefs of the author.
