>But if people are refused jobs, education, passports, government assistance, etc. due to a criminal record, how are they supposed to recover their lives? How are they supposed to feed themselves or their families?
I think the answer is basic income. We're at a point right now where the demand for labour is so low that people's lives are subject to the whims of fickle employers. This problem will continue to grow as automation makes more and more people redundant. It will take the economic pressure off the less fortunate and open the doors to their future.
With basic income we can turn productivity gains into a force for benefitting all people. We can free the creative masses from the mundane and unnecessary. We can build a labour market that is less regulated and more competitive. Capitalism functions best when its participants are able to make free choices.
By "basic income," I assume you mean the government pays everyone enough to live. Welfare by another name.
What keeps people from just taking the money and doing nothing?
Some fraction of people will probably always want to work because a job makes them happier, or they desire the luxuries that the increased income makes possible. But in the time between now and the techno-utopia where robots and computers do all the work, how do we know that this fraction will always be big enough? Why won't our society won't collapse due to too many people opting to live on the public dime, and there not being enough workers left to produce the food, clothing, shelter, etc. needed by the non-workers?
I think the answer is basic income. We're at a point right now where the demand for labour is so low that people's lives are subject to the whims of fickle employers. This problem will continue to grow as automation makes more and more people redundant. It will take the economic pressure off the less fortunate and open the doors to their future.
With basic income we can turn productivity gains into a force for benefitting all people. We can free the creative masses from the mundane and unnecessary. We can build a labour market that is less regulated and more competitive. Capitalism functions best when its participants are able to make free choices.