Silicon Valley's Unchecked Arrogance

Source: Ross Baird
Affiliation: BRIGHT Magazine

In this article, the author argues that the idea of Universal Basic Income comes from Silicon Valley’s arrogant view toward the rest of the world. In this view, tech workers will become an elite class generating the majority of the wealth, and everyone else will be part of an “idle class,” with minimum wage jobs being automated away. The author argues that what instead of, or on top of, a universal basic income, what is needed is to restructure the business system so that more people than just the elites in a few coastal cities can participate in it, not only to get a share of the wealth but also to help solve a more diverse range of societal problems.

Keywords: Automation , Computer Science , Tech Ethics , Tech Industry , Universal Basic Income