Kill the Means Test In Your Head

On pandemics and Universal Basic Income.

If the headlines are to be believed then a new relief bill is going to be passed any day now. Millions of people who have been tossed into poverty since the expiration of the CARES Act five goddamned months ago are going to finally be tossed a paltry lifeline. Whether it’s enough to lift them back out of poverty is an open question, given that the direct relief for working people – $600 stimulus checks, and an added $300 in weekly unemployment benefit supplement payments – is about half what it was back in the spring and summer.

It’s a shame really. Not just because millions are now facing eviction while profits are absolutely soaring. But because I was looking forward to doing nothing and getting generously paid in return.

Is that in poor taste? Perhaps. We scroungers aren’t known for being a particularly tactful lot. It’s also true that a great many people receiving that CARES Act money still struggled, particularly those with families and/or more substantial living expenses. Which do…