> Not only does Dunstan turn any belief that wealth should be earned into rubbish, he also persuaded himself that he, Dunstan, deserved the gold that Silas really had earned with his weaving.
Like UBI.
replies(1):
But I think it went slightly off the rails at one point. It's not only "white males worldwide" who feel unjustified entitlement. I mean, plenty of them do. But plenty of them don't, too.
It seems to me that it is the elites who are most prone to a sense of entitlement, and especially the children of the elites. Those with rich parents, or powerful parents, or both. (Though it can be their spouses, too - I'd consider "Karens" as a kind of unjustified entitlement.)
So to me, this one line felt like a drive-by culture war jab, in an otherwise good article.
Dunstan believed that he deserved the gold and Silas did not. UBI says that Dunstan deserves some gold, wastrel though he is, but also that Silas deserves some, not because he's so productive but just because he's human. And, on top of it, Silas deserves to keep at least some of what he earns - UBI is not pure communism.
I mean, you can still oppose UBI on the ground that it takes too much from those who actually produce it. But at least represent it accurately.