A guaranteed income won’t stop people from working

Would Universal Basic Income cause inflation? Laziness? Other unspeakable horrors?

Jun 03, 2025

Last week I wrote about my personal struggle with work, and I’ve been thinking a lot about Universal Basic Income since then.

Over the years I’ve heard a lot about why UBI wouldn’t work in reality, and I blindly believed it. But recently I’ve been reading two very relevant books (Andrew Yang’s The War on Normal People and David Graeber’s Bullsh*t Jobs) that show a lot of the narrative around UBI is actually myth.

I wanted to share what I’ve learned in case it’s news to you too.

Myth #1: People will stop working if they have a guaranteed income

‘If you pay people to do nothing, they’ll become lazy degenerates.’

This may be the most common fear, that without the threat of starvation, people will stop contributing to society. But that’s not what the evidence has shown.

In Finland’s 2017-2018 basic income trial, 2,000 unemployed people received €560/month with no strings attached. During the two years, employment outcomes stayed the same, and wellbeing, trust and optimism rose significantly.

In Alaska, where residents receive oil dividends annually, employment hasn’t declined since the policy was introduced in 1982.

People want to be useful. People want to do things. And even if they didn’t, there’s nothing amoral about being lazy.

Myth #2: Work is morally good and builds character

‘Suffering through a job you hate is good for you. Everyone has to do it – welcome to the real world.’

This is the persistent moral backbone resisting UBI and upholding the value of work in general.

In Bullsh*t Jobs, David Graeber points out that many modern jobs exist not because they provide value but instead to manufacture an illusion of productivity, to manage a perception of busyness. If you’ve ever worked in corporate, you’re already familiar with presenteeism.

Text reads “When you have nothing to do at work but gotta look busy.” A child sits seriously at a computer with Google’s homepage open.

People don’t hate work because they’re lazy – they hate it because they’re forced to spend the majority of their life doing work that is meaningless at best and harmful at worst, just to survive.

The idea that the world isn’t harsh enough and that we need to manufacture hardship to build character is absurd to me. What really builds character isn’t the near-punishing nature of modern work, it’s having the security to choose your own path.

Myth #3: It’s morally wrong to get something for nothing

‘People should earn their keep.’

Andrew Yang addresses this directly: ‘We already have people getting money for doing nothing. They’re called investors and trust fund kids’ (Chapter 22, The War on Normal People).

And Graeber, in his book, points out that vital yet thankless labour (like caregiving, emotional support or community building) goes mostly unpaid.

That’s all to say that people are already being paid to do nothing, and plenty of people are not being paid to do a lot. The great part about UBI is that it recognises that everyone has value beyond productivity, that everyone has basic needs that deserve to be met.

Myth #4: UBI will kill the economy

‘No one will innovate if they aren’t desperate, and inflation will skyrocket.’

I dunno about you, but the times I’ve been the most creative and productive were not when I was stressed out.

When the consequences of failure are so steep, people are much less likely to try new things. UBI acts like a safety net that makes it easier for people to take risks like creating a business or switching careers or doing work that aligns with their personal values.

Text: “Capitalism breeds innovation.” Images show multiple unskippable video ads: 3 of 5, 7 of 8, 7 of 10.

And UBI doesn’t take money out of the economic system.

A 2017 study by the Roosevelt Institute did some economic modelling and showed a $1,000/month UBI was projected to increase the U.S. economy by $2.5 trillion over eight years, driven mostly by greater consumer spending and improved mental health. This isn't theoretical – pilots around the world have shown that when people have basic financial security, they spend more in local businesses and create economic ripple effects.

As Graeber writes, ‘The ruling class has figured out that a happy and productive population with free time on their hands is a mortal danger to them’ (Bullsh*t Jobs). Seems to me that that’s the real fear: not that UBI will crash the economy, but that it might actually change who has control over it.

The truth about Universal Basic Income

What UBI actually allows for is this:

Quitting toxic jobs
Starting small businesses
Time and energy for care work, community projects and spending time with friends
Time to rest, have hobbies and grow

The myths about UBI are less about economics and more about control. When people aren’t trapped in desperation, just trying to survive, they’re able to imagine better ways to live. That’s dangerous to the status quo, and maybe exactly what we need.

‘The ultimate hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently.’ - David Graeber, Bullsh*t Jobs

Next week let’s look at how we can make a guaranteed income possible, including debunking the myth that UBI causes inflation. 🌈

Snails against the machine

Small ways we’re taking back control of our world

A South African woman named Phumla Makhoba invented a durable, circular material called TexiBoard using fashion waste. TexiBoard can be used to make things like furniture, flooring and even entire homes – meaning this affordable material can make a huge impact on the global south’s housing crisis.

Not only that, the material is open source, and Phulma also runs workshops to teach people how to create TexiBoard to build their own homes.