@maporsche,
Quote:I don't know that I pushed for a UBI anywhere, but I'm open to the idea.
We have talked about it in other threads before.
Quote:I see that as being a 2040 and beyond possible solution though; automation won't hit us that quickly. And automation won't eliminate ALL jobs. Immigration and automation won't be turned on 100% at the same time, so like everything this big, it will take decades.
I don't think automation is going to be as bad for jobs as some think, where one form of job ends, another profession is always created. Where did all the people go who worked the hundreds of horse stables and other horse related jobs prior to the invention of the car?
Quote:More people means more housing, means more grocery stores, means more restaurants, means more schools, means more barbershops, means more of everything that societies expect.
Where are all these people going to work? I'm all for filling out jobs with legal immigrants as long as they can't find any qualified US citizens first. That doesn't bring in hundreds of thousands of unskilled/uneducated people.
Quote:Automation makes the immigration "problem" even easier to manage though. Everything you end up automating become cheaper (otherwise, why automate). If food become cheaper or if robots start building our houses, etc then it makes it easier to live on less income. It means the "living wage" goes further. It means that a UBI would go further.
You really don't believe this do you? This sounds like a list of hopes with no basis in reality. I don't think automation lowers the costs on items, it lowers the cost of labor and keeps the prices down from future mark ups due to labor costs. The only other thing I can think of that lowers costs over time is spread of technology, which is what a vast majority of any modern innovation has come from. Computers, TV's and other such tech items have come down in cost due their common use. Flat screen TV's once cost 20k and the only thing that dropped their costs was improvement of the technology and mass production of the items, which is already heavly automated in the production process. Not many human hands touch a TV or any mass produced item any more. You should watch a few episodes of How It's Made or one of those shows to see what I'm talking about.
The only items I see with a massive human touch are custom items or high end luxury items.
Quote:Your other points? Like mandating that they speak English? I didn't think they were debatable topics. You were stating your opinion or preference. I disagree and didn't have anything else to add to try to convince you. I think we should bring in just about anyone who wants to come, skilled, unskilled alike. Screen for criminals, give them green cards or whatever visas they need to live and build a life here.
English is an important tool for anyone living in the US to have and I have to question how much the US taxpayers are responsible for spending to teach non-English speakers the language?
Quote:Unskilled workers will find jobs, they will pay into social security, they will buy food, they will live in houses, they will be consumers and tax payers...their kids even more so.
How will they find jobs if they don't speak the language and how will they pay for anything until they learn the language and find a job? How many years of "assistance" are we obligated to provide? What you propose sounds good but doesn't sound realistic.
Quote:If you want to keep government benefits away from them for a period of time (outside of school for their children) then I don't know that I'd have much of a problem with that. I think it's a drop in the bucket, but if that's what it takes to get them legally here, it's a compromise I'd be willing to make.
Here's the problem, if they don't have skills and don't speak English and we don't let them have social programs, how do they live?
We live in a different society than we did 100 years ago when we needed immigration to fill our country, our country is full and only requires immigrants who will contribute to society from the start, not 5 or 10 years after they arrive. Skilled workers are the future of US immigration.