smountcastle

Gah! Thank you.

Does anyone else get an invalid cert authority for Cisco Umbrella CA? Both Safari and Chrome don't like that CA.

I’m the author of the original post. Re-reading it now nearly 14 years later is a bit embarrassing. I love where I ended up so it was all for the best that they didn’t offer me a job.

As akurilin stated, they had an immensely talented and very passionate group of gamers. I think everyone wants to work with folks that are passionate about their work and their field. It is a shame that WAR didn’t succeed as it was an ambitious vision. Many of the folks I interviewed with have gone on to end up elsewhere with successful careers—which I’m very glad to see.

I do wonder how Dan Luu came across my old blog post. I really enjoy his blog. Maybe I need to start blogging again.

Why would there be a gap in your resume? Just because you receive a basic income doesn't mean you won't work. I suppose there will be some who would minimize their lifestyle to live off of the basic income but I suspect many will continue to earn far more.

I was laid off in 2006 as a Sr. Software Engineer writing systems software in C++ and Java. Thankfully my employer provided 3 months of severance. Through local connections I was able to land a new job immediately at the same title/level (albeit at a slightly less salary but higher total compensation). Thus I started my new job the Monday immediately following my last Friday of work (e.g. with no gap). So I banked the 3 months severance.

In retrospect, I wish I had taken advantage of the break between jobs to spend more time with my kids.

It depends how UBI is funded. If it's based on consumption then the people buying your cars end up paying more (say 20%), the additional amount goes to fund UBI. When you buy raw materials and machinery for your factory you pay more (just as the consumers do) which goes to fund UBI. So instead of 10 robots maybe you can only purchase 8 for your factory, initially.

In most places within the US we pay state and local sales taxes today. If we eliminated income tax, AMT, and other taxes on earnings and instead went after consumption, I think it would be a simpler system with fewer loopholes. Obviously transactions between individuals wouldn't be taxed unless there was a way to enforce it (e.g. make eBay capture that 20% consumption tax) but we have that issue today with the states trying to figure out how they can tax online sales.

I'm curious why you think this would be necessary. If UBI was for citizens only and it was funded by consumption, visitors would end up paying into it and then would have to petition for reimbursement (much like I have to do when I visit countries with VAT in Europe). Many folks won't bother because the amounts are small.

As far as immigration, they'd need a job to survive here much like they do today and only once they achieve citizenship would they be eligible for UBI. I wouldn't see this changing much from today.

As edmccard said, there are roughly 318 million people in the US. Not all of them are above the age of 18. Let's say adults get $1,500/month plus $500 for each dependent. So a married couple with two kids would get $4,000/month.

If we assume that 24% are under 18, that's roughly 242 million who get $1,500/month (for a total of $363 billion/month) plus the 76 million children that receive $500/month (for a total of $38 billion/month). That's $4.812 trillion/year which exceeds the current annual US budget by a little over $1 trillion.

So it doesn't look like $30 trillion/year. I agree that it seems unrealistic but perhaps the monthly amount can be lowered. Those who want to live better (or in more expensive locations) would still have to hold jobs. It does give others who cannot or do not want to work the opportunity to move to cost effective locations (where housing and utilities are cheap).

I'm curious why you don't think that a basic income would accepted politically? If it were provided to everyone without regard to their other sources of income it would differ from other approaches like welfare. I realize that the money has to come from somewhere, so perhaps a transition to a consumption tax rather than income tax would work. Of course the basic income would need to be significant enough to offset the increased cost of consumption for basic needs.

Is anyone able to find the wreck of the Primrose on Google Maps satellite image? I've looked around the perimeter of the island but cannot see it -- did the Indian government clean it up?