Q This reminds me of a popular idea called UBI. Have you heard of this universal basic income? A lot of, a lot of people in tech naively think that we're going to Not, it's like Star Trek and no one's gonna have to work too much, you're just gonna give everyone money. It seems like it's not good for the soul of the nation to me.
A Well, look, I, whether we ought to have over a hundred welfare programs or not is clearly debatable. Whether we would be better off giving people cash rather than all these benefits is debatable. But it is, doesn't seem to me to be debatable that if you got able-bodied people that are prime work age, and you're providing welfare benefits, they ought to have to work. Um, to me that isn't, that's not debatable. And look, it's, Uh, it, working gives you the dignity that comes from being self-sufficient. And if you're not, the American economy is like an escalator, ok? You go to work, you get on the escalator, you work hard, you climb up, you fool around, you stumble down, but the escalator's going up.
AI assessment note: “if you got able-bodied people that are prime work age... they ought to have to work.”