ABSTRACT
Thomas M. Disch asked about the price of free and universal assistance to everyone in need. His means-tested utopia provides universal education, universal housing, universal healthcare, universal basic income, and a host of other perks. Computers run the economy, putting people to or out of work, determining welfare eligibility, doling out benefits, keeping track of families to ensure they meet minimum face-time requirements, and even playing matchmakers. In utopia, everyone works his butt off on principle, but in our world monitoring performance and linking it to pay are better guardians of results. Like in China, utopian basic income will be rigged to deter lawbreakers. Plato, who wanted to put power in the hands of the elites, bristled that democracy was no more than ochlocracy—mob rule. Money talks loud in American politics, and even louder in the wake of the Supreme Court’s lifting limits on political contributions.
