Even with the COVID shutdowns, some jobs that are hands on had to be done in person. Even if there were machines doing a lot of the work, most machines require some low level manual intervention (restocking, calibrating, minor monitoring, etc.), so I think there will always be some hands on jobs.
In addition, when we switched to a largely service economy with digitization requiring input (which led to offshoring of admin jobs), we still had to keep people engaged somehow...often in case we needed bodies for jobs requiring hands and feet at work. I'm not seeing robots drawing blood...just not. Maybe my imagination just isn't that good.
UBI should be the low level payment people get for not being in jail/prison and should be indexed to location the same way government pay is. People legally present who were good enough people (good enough to not be in jail or prison) get a small stipend that could stretch based on choices they make. Not enough to think you've won the lottery, but a nice cushion. If people don't want to participate, the funds go back to the Treasury if they're not spent before the next payment (that'll teach the government), can be transferred to gift cards from businesses like Amazon, Walmart, Kroger, etc., or super used to get even more than the face value of what was dropped onto the card. I've got to write out my vision of UBI and send to somebody who might be able to implement it.
As I see it, we've largely lived on a sticks method. Do this...or else! Why not try a carrots method? Do this and benefit. UBI purchases would be anonymized but tracked in the aggregate, but would expand if people made better choices. The closer the purchase to the unprocessed version (foodwise), the bigger the discount. The activities that are healthier would have a discount. The skills acquired would get a bonus (or reduced fee) to acquire them. Sure, you could pay cash so you wouldn't be "tracked" (which you're already agreeing to do with your cellphones, paranoid people), but you'd get a reduced cost for the purchases like buying stuff in grocery stores and using your loyalty card. Apples that were $1.25 a pound could be $.75 a pound. <NUDGE...NUDGE> Companies might provide UBI discounts to buy their stuff. Example, Microsoft "reimbursing" certification money in "gift cards" if you take their certification courses and pay with a UBI card then they reduce annual renew fees from $200 a year (I think that's the cost for Office access) to $20 on a UBI card...and the government knows that some people have certain software skills. That could be important for people who want to be in a "well-regulated militia."
This has been been bugging me for a while. Companies are gonna offshore to save some money. I'll try to remember to act surprised. I expect entrepreneurs to come up with classes (kinda like Health insurance ambassadors?) to help people get the most from the UBI payments.
