Values
Freedom: We hate exploitation. Jobs should never be taken out of desperation. We’re opposed to coercion. Bellies should be filled first, then we win hearts and minds. We think paternalism at a distance is silly. When it comes to strangers, we almost certainly don’t know what they need better than they do.
Time: We hate spending our time doing boring or unpleasant things. The goal is spending more time doing what we want. This includes leisure, sure, but what we really want is to do interesting and important things with the people we love.
Progress: We’ve been trying to free time from the beginning. We want people to look for better ways to do their tasks, not fear it will cost them their job.
(Almost) Humility: We’re convinced that UBI works, but we know we don’t have all the answers. We don’t know the optimal parameters, and we don’t know how quickly it should scale. We need more data, and we want to follow its lead.
Generosity: We’re blessed to be a blessing. UBI doesn’t eliminate the need for each of us to be generous. It makes our generosity more effective.
(Almost) Free Markets: If a stranger needs something, we prefer to convert any “gift” we want to give them (minimum wages, food stamps, job training, etc.) into cash and let the market work its magic. Only if we need something as a society that individuals can’t buy (like clean air), then we need to step in and constrain or entice the market.
Charity: We don’t want to eliminate charities. We want them to focus on what they’re good at and be able to pay top dollar for top talent. Today, charities naturally get pulled “down” into supplying basic needs, since a full belly and good night sleep is needed before other services can fully be leveraged. But those needs are best served by the market. UBI, delivered with a helpline, a handshake, or a hug, is the winning formula.
Hacks: We don’t want to upend the entire system. We want to apply a simple hack that lets the system hum once again. Progress is a history of hacks (money, free markets) that let prosperity scale. It’s time to do it again.
People: There was a time when time was all we needed. People could survive by putting in the effort. Those days are gone. We’ve made it easy for society to supply the basics, but impossible for individuals to secure them on their own. We need to give every person an asset so they can participate.
Dignity: UBI looks like systematic generosity, but we should be careful with the messaging. “We” have earned a share of progress. UBI is best thought of as a dividend paid out to everyone for the progress we’ve made as a species. And paid work is not the only type of work that matters.
Rationality: We’re moved by the stories of people living on the edge, but we’re guided by data and logic to solve these important problems. And we expect people to behave rationally. Our current system is designed to be gamed: 300 million people being generous in an uncoordinated fashion and the system littered with rules and roles and hoops and traps. A simple hack fixes all of this.
Measuring what matters: GDP is not what we’re after. It’s time to come up with better metrics.