Universal Basic Income: Answering the Common Objections

Whenever the idea of a Universal Basic Income comes up, certain objections are raised almost immediately. These concerns deserve real answers. I get it - the stakes are high. It’s a major shift from the economic norms we’ve been conditioned to accept.

So here’s my attempt to address five of the most common objections, plainly and clearly:

1. "But if people aren't working, who pays for it?"

It’s a fair question. But the worry is based on a misunderstanding: UBI isn't about ending work. It’s about changing the terms of work.

Even with a basic income, most people would still work. People want purpose. They want to create, contribute, and be useful. UBI simply gives people more freedom to choose work that is meaningful - not work they’re forced into purely for survival.

Real-world UBI trials consistently show that people don’t stop working when given a basic income. What changes is how they work:

• People start businesses.
• They go back to school.
• They care for family members.
• They leave abusive workplaces and seek better jobs.

As for the money - it's not some fantasy. It would come from reprioritizing existing public spending (think less endless war, more investment in people), closing massive tax loopholes, modest wealth taxes, land value taxes, and financial transaction taxes.

We already spend trillions supporting corporate welfare, bank bailouts, and destructive subsidies. We have the money. It's a matter of will and values - not scarcity.

2. "Won’t UBI make people dependent on the government — and risk losing their rights?"

This is another understandable fear, especially if you don't trust the powers that be. (Frankly, you shouldn’t trust them blindly - I don’t either.)

But here’s the thing: people without economic security are already dependent — on corporations, on predatory employers, on a job market that treats humans like disposable parts. That’s not freedom. That’s wage slavery dressed up in the language of "personal responsibility."

UBI increases real freedom:

• It gives people the ability to walk away from abuse.
• It reduces desperation and manipulation.
• It gives ordinary people the stability to organize, speak up, and participate meaningfully in democracy.

The fear that UBI would lead to governments "taking away your vote" misunderstands how rights work in this country. We don't strip voting rights from seniors on Social Security, from veterans receiving pensions, from farmers receiving subsidies, or from workers receiving unemployment benefits. Public support and citizenship rights are not - and should never be - tied to income level.

Also, UBI proposals are about unconditional cash — not rationed "credits" that track your behavior or dictate how you live. No surveillance. No micromanagement. Just trust that a human being knows how to use $1 better than a bloated bureaucracy does.

If anything, UBI makes it harder for authoritarianism to take hold, because people would be economically strong enough to resist it.

3. "UBI will just cause inflation and make everything cost more."

This is one of the most frequent concerns - and it makes intuitive sense at first. But the real story is more complicated.

Giving people a baseline income doesn’t automatically cause prices to skyrocket. Inflation mainly happens when there’s too much money chasing too few goods — or when corporations raise prices simply because they can (as we’ve seen with corporate greedflation lately, with companies raising prices far beyond their actual costs).

In UBI pilots, inflation was negligible because UBI isn’t extra money dumped into a scarce economy - it’s a redistribution of existing resources. Plus, if UBI is funded by taxes on the wealthy, it doesn't even increase the total money supply - it just moves it from those who hoard wealth to those who will actually spend it in their communities.

If anything, UBI could help stabilize local economies by giving small businesses and local services more customers who can actually afford to participate.

4. "People will just waste the money on drugs and alcohol."

This stereotype gets thrown around a lot - and it's deeply unfair. It says more about our view of poor people than it does about reality.

Actual evidence from UBI experiments shows the opposite:

• Alcohol and drug use decreases when people have stable incomes.
• People invest in education, health care, food, housing, and entrepreneurship.

When people aren't trapped in constant survival stress, they make better decisions. Poverty creates despair, which feeds addiction. Security creates hope, which feeds better choices.

If we trust billionaires to decide how to spend their money - even when they often waste it on yachts, vanity projects, or destructive investments - we can trust ordinary people to spend $1,000 a month on keeping themselves alive and building a future.

5. "It sounds good on paper, but human nature will ruin it."

There's always a deeper cynicism lurking behind a lot of UBI skepticism: the idea that humans are just lazy, selfish, and untrustworthy at the core.

I don't buy that.
Yes, humans can be shortsighted - but we're also creative, generous, resilient, and capable of incredible things when given the chance.

Right now, the system brings out the worst in people: fear, hoarding, competition over scraps.
UBI would help create conditions that bring out the best: security, collaboration, innovation, real freedom.

Human nature isn't fixed. It's shaped by the environments we live in. If we design a system that trusts people, supports their basic needs, and offers real opportunity - most people will rise to it.

The idea that we should cling to a brutal system because we fear the worst in ourselves is one of the saddest, most limiting beliefs we can hold.

I believe we can aim higher.
I believe we have to.

Final Thought:

Positive rights - like public education, Social Security, and labor protections - have existed in America for over a century. They’re not threats to freedom. They're what make freedom possible for people who would otherwise be crushed by the system.

Real freedom isn’t just the absence of government overreach. It’s the presence of security, dignity, and real choices.

We need to stop defending a rigged system that keeps people desperate - and start imagining one where ordinary people actually have power.

That’s what UBI is really about.
Peace. 

Tim Hjersted is the director and co-founder of Films For Action, an online library for people who want to change the world. He lives in Lawrence, KS.