I'm German, so I'm taking universal public healthcare for granted. I guess Obamacare sorta is a step towards that idea in the US?
It's a funny thing this idea of liberty. On the one hand an American citizen is freer in that there are less restrictions on what he can do. On the other hand a German citizen is freer in that he (theoretically) doesn't have to worry about the bare necessities.
As an aside: there's also the idea that basic income would eliminate the need for minimum wages because you can decide to work for pennies without it being exploitative because you would barely suffer any consequence for not taking it. A lot of things would change if unskilled workers wouldn't have to suffer unacceptable working conditions out of fear of unemployment.
It's a funny thing this idea of liberty. On the one hand an American citizen is freer in that there are less restrictions on what he can do. On the other hand a German citizen is freer in that he (theoretically) doesn't have to worry about the bare necessities.
As an aside: there's also the idea that basic income would eliminate the need for minimum wages because you can decide to work for pennies without it being exploitative because you would barely suffer any consequence for not taking it. A lot of things would change if unskilled workers wouldn't have to suffer unacceptable working conditions out of fear of unemployment.