Hawaii is a state that went far beyond others in the development of social programs and here’s why. The state legislature passed a bill, HCR 89, which directs the government «to create a basic working group on economic security», which can be seen as the first tangible step towards a new program of income distribution in the United States.
The initiator of the bill and supporter of the introduction of such «unconditional basic income» was made by the Democrat Chris Lee. The politician said that about the basic income, he learned on Reddit «several years ago» and was intrigued by the idea of paying people a salary just because they are alive. With his words in the near future there will be full automation of business processes, which is especially painful impact on the people of Hawaii, because almost 80% of them are involved in the service sector, where automation will affect in the first place. The question arises: what do people live, where employers will simply be replaced by robots? Such people, the authorities are obliged to support financially — says Lee.
Explain that under «basic unconditional income» the bill includes the monthly income of the person who paid him by the state regardless of whether it works or not, and which the recipient is entitled to spend as you see fit.
«Our idea was supported by the chamber of Commerce and the largest labor unions in the country, says Lee. — Everyone recognizes that if the majority of our citizens lose their jobs and can not pay even the rent, they will no longer be money available to develop various sectors of our economy.»
Lee believes that the time and technical progress is not on the side of the workers. And in this he has considerable support. For example, in the Oxford study, 2013 researchers came to the conclusion that robots can replace 50% of all jobs by the mid 2020-ies. It is expected that most of the new automated «workers» will perform low-skilled work, ie, will replace cashiers, sellers, workers, reception, etc.
