You can’t defeat the far right by giving them what they claim to want, bc that isn’t what they really want. What they really want- as they occasionally make clear- is racial purity. That’s why measures aimed at reducing migration are not only cruel & self-harming but pointless on their own terms

There's far more that needs to be done to ensure the benefits of economic wealth are felt by everyone. There's also a limit to what can be achieved on that score at present without further devolution - in particular around fiscal powers.

Greater Manchester is doing some things right, especially on transport and green investment, but we shouldn't kid ourselves by looking at a shiny city centre that that wealth trickles down to the 2.5m who live in the area.
fairerhealthacademy.gmtableau.nhs.uk/file/gmca-imd

I appreciate the response. You characterized UBI as “being paid to sit around and do nothing.”

I generally agree with much of what you wrote: Jobs are more than a salary.

You don’t need to portray UBI as an obstacle to make that case.

I don't think here is a great place for you to try to clarify what you were aiming to say in your article. Maybe a revised article that sets out your position/arguments on AI/UBI would be best? For me, a guaranteed living income is needed now in the real world, not in some extreme imagined dystopia.

I thought you implied that people getting UBI would choose to sit around doing nothing, rather than find meaning in activity beyond the paid jobs that AI would have destroyed?

Depends what you mean by "jobs" - being employed by another person or organisation? spending more time being a parent/carer? doing something creative and personally satisfying? joining movements for change? growing food?

"if the choice is between extreme limits on what uses we can put AI to and most of us being paid to sit around and do nothing, then we should choose a world without UBI and AI."
The basic flaw here is assuming that without "jobs" people choose to do nothing. All UBI evidence is to the contrary.

Let's see if Middleton Co-operative Mayoral Development Corporation can do things differently.