I honestly don’t understand the logic behind this.

Generally speaking, people who have more money than they could possibly need are no longer motivated by necessity. They are already operating at the upper levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. So a calculated strategy to accumulate more unneeded wealth by increasing aggregate poverty seems pointless at best and counterproductive at worst. The logical conclusion is that the wealthy have a higher proportion of antisocial tendencies than the human race as a whole. But, they would also have to be much less intelligent as well, since the economic effect of such a shift usually results in revolution, killing the goose that lays golden eggs.

The few people I know that have this kind of money and influence do live differently. They don’t have to worry about their next paycheck but overwhelming wealth does have its drawbacks. They have to isolate themselves from the unrelenting pressure of requests for investment and charitable contributions. Otherwise, they will either lose everything or be driven crazy from guilt and despair. Some of them are incredible people, some reclusive, some are horrible. Just like the rest of us.

Besides money, the other thing that separates these folks from the rest of us is that they already have the luxury of spending their time doing what they want. If you want a glimpse of how a universal basic income can affect a life, look at those able to follow their own path without need of money.

Technology is quickly driving us toward a post-scarcity world. Much of the socioeconomic turmoil can be directly linked to this paradigm shift. We must stop analyzing events through a 20th century lens. It’s like trying to drive forward while looking in the rear view mirror. The more Artificial Intelligence and machine labor displaces human labor the more policies grounded in conventional principles of economics no longer result in what we expect.

Pinning this all on greed and stupidity of the wealthy is a broad oversimplification. We are all suffering from the same disease. We would be better served if we stop demonizing each other and start operating from a place of curiosity, grace and understanding.