You ever hear the term ‘Universal Basic Income’ (UBI)? UBI is a very popular topic among leaders of industry and futurists but not so much among politicians because UBI only exists within the broader conversation of job loss due to automation, and the only politician... in so far as I am aware... who has ever mentioned automation is Obama. But two other politicians have mentioned UBI; Joe Biden, who has officially come out against UBI, and Hillary Clinton who stated that her and her husband looked into UBI and decided to not make it part of her campaign because they could not make the numbers work.

Here’s the thing- UBI and immigration are mutually incompatible. Immigration is good and kind and humanitarian and compassionate and a damn stupid idea if there ain’t no jobs and the government is shelling out money to keep people fed and part of our consumer economy. Only so many ways to slice up Economic pie and the more mouths at the table the smaller the slices.

And that reality makes Hillary’s mention of UBI stupid because it establishes that she is aware of the shit creeping closer to the fan and yet she STILL... rather cynically... postures as a ‘friend’ to immigrants. Trump, though he avoids talking about automation and UBI, adopts the anti-immigrant posture that automation... right or wrong, good or bad... is going to force on this country.

Is Trump a good President or a bad President? That’s a judgement call only History can reliably make. During his tenure Carter was widely derided as a shitty shitty President, but in retrospect History has shown him to be a far greater success than was appreciated at the time. But what I can be sure of is that a woman who bets both ends against the middle to see what is in her best interests... not the country’s best interests... is nobody who should have been elected to the highest office in the land. If for only that reason, thank God for Trump.