I ran some numbers for Ontario with some oversimplifications and wanted to ask people if this seems remotely possible.

$15,000 UBI -$15,000 federal exemption * 0.15=$2,250 -$11,865 provincial exemption * 0.0505=$599

This is an underestimate of costs because the personal exemption is non-refundable and some people don’t earn enough to reach it.

Net UBI $12,151

Assume all people over 65 have enough CPP/OAS/etc to deduct the $12,151.

Working age population (18-64) is 65.6% of 15.71 million which is 10.3 million.

So underestimate of cost is $125.155 billion. Generously assume we get 33% back in tax so net cost is $83.75 billion.

Cut ODSP and Welfare to $0 getting $13.8 billion in reductions for net cost of $69.95 billion. Note: this is a loss in income for some people as ODSP pays more than $12,151 per year and is not taxable. Welfare is also not taxable and often pays higher than that number as well. If you want to make UBI at least neutral for all people you would have to cut a smaller percentage of these programs. Cut first $12,151 of EI which we will generously assume is 40% of all EI payments. Gross benefit paid in EI Federally is $11.35 billion. Portion in Ontario can be overestimated as 15.71/42.0 37.4% so get back $1.7 billion in EI. That lowers cost to $68.15 billion. You probably have to fund this amount through tax increases or cuts that aren’t offset by UBI.

Ontario currently has $44.2 billion in income tax revenue and $136.5 billion in all tax revenue. A proportionate increase to pay for $68.15 billion would involve a 50% increase in all taxes. This would mean the provincial portion of GST would increase from 8% to 12% and the new income tax rates would be: 7.575% bottom bracket 13.725% next bracket 16.74% middle bracket 18.24% second highest bracket 19.5% top bracket

Combining with a top bracket rate of 33% federally top income would be taxed at 52.5% without including CPP or EI.

Ontario Corporate Tax Rates would increase from 11.5% to 17.25%. The small business corporate tax rate would increase from 3.2% to 4.8%. The federal rate is 9% with the small business deduction, 15% with the general tax reduction, 28% after abatement and 38% if Part I tax applies. This means corporate tax rates would range from 13.8% to 47% overall. In every category rates would have increased.

Lastly, increasing the cost of things reduces demand so we’d expect to see a decrease in total labour (dollars earned) from the income tax increase and a decrease in total goods sold from the GST increase. Those decreases in revenue are somewhat hard to estimate and would be paid for by increasing the deficit.

Note that with the increase in bottom bracket taxation and the removal of the personal exemption an individual making $51,446 after UBI of $15,000 would pay an additional $1322.67 and $757.5 in provincial tax and an additional $2,250 in Federal Tax while also losing exemptions of $2,250 and $559. This means someone making $36,446 salary and UBI would end up only $7,860 better off (less additional GST paid). The estimate for additional GST paid is $585 + $617.35 for a total of $1202.35 so this person would end up roughly $6657 better off.

A person making $102,894 ($87,894 + UBI) would pay an additional $2473.78 in taxes on top of all the extra taxes from the previous bracket and would be $5,416.22 better off less additional GST paid. Assuming 30% of income gets spent on GST purchases that would be an additional $1234.73 in HST from the 4% increase and an additional $585 from HST on the $15,000 in UBI. So this person would net out at approximately $3,596.49 better off.

A person making $150,000 ($135k before UBI) would pay an additional $2628.51 in tax on the last bracket of the income. They would also pay an additional $565.27 in HST. This person would be approximately $403 better off.

A person making $220,000 ($205k before UBI) would pay an additional $4256 in income taxes on their last bracket and an additional $840 in sales tax hikes on that last bracket income. They would be approximately $4693 worse off.

A person making $1 million ($985k before UBI) would pay an additional $50,700 on top bracket taxes. They would pay an estimated $9,360 more in HST for top bracket income. They would be approximately $64,753 worse off.

These numbers obviously get worse if you remove the deficit component and also get worse if higher corporate taxes leads to job loss or reduced economic growth.

I wanted to know if I’m missing anything because I think getting a 50% increase to all taxes passed is a pipe dream. Are there some offsetting costs I’m not thinking of?

Universal Basic Income (UBI) isn’t just another policy; it's a reflection of empathy toward each individual, a shared recognition of equal worth. Yet, this very equality is what so many resist. UBI upends familiar structures and frays the boundaries of identity for those who’ve tied their sense of worth to a job title, a role, a status. It doesn’t play nice with the ego's need for definition and stability; it disrupts dopamine cycles and comfort zones in the same way decentralized systems do. And this discomfort is precisely why people bristle at the idea—downvotes, dismissals, indifference. I expect them all.

But here I am, posting anyway. Not for attention, not for the upvotes. For the peace that might come with true cooperation—with systems that reward us just for being, for existing together in shared empathy. Because right now, we're caught in this relentless pursuit of something more, something bigger, when perhaps all we need is to acknowledge each other equally and stop chasing endless dopamine, endlessly fleeting validation, endlessly recycled power plays.

This vision for UBI isn't a slight against competition or progress; it's a chance to reimagine our motivations. If capitalism pushes innovation, UBI could push stability, giving everyone the security to contribute without fear of survival. The goal isn’t to eliminate human ambition but to let it thrive without constant existential insecurity.

Imagine a system that lets cooperation rise above endless ego battles—a system where empathy is embedded into the economy, where reward is rooted in existence, not status. Maybe, then, we’d find our way to something real: **Peace, rather than more of the same old bullshit.

And all of the energy behind this post came from the sheer pent up stigma I've been feeling in society around so many things.

And the lack of conversations around them.

All liking things as is way too much

But wait, why couldn't I simply also relax into that as well?

Because my mind keeps thinking about the future

That's just what it does, for all of us, to a degree

it's simply a consequence sequence unfolding

time, the passing, and the experiencing of it, or its varying rate of change, a night, a dream, filling an entire night. Are you sure you slept? how do you know if you're not in a dream now? And why does it matter? What makes this question interesting? The mind endlessly tries to project and guard against the future. It's a natural extremely efficient mechanism of self defense. The trick is in also listening to the queues of your body. To remain in balance with everything. We're in the matrix, and we're all Neo. A Truman show, with ourselves. A game of hide and seek. On this side of your reality, in the phone, is bad dna, yet the heart beat in perfect sync with the universe its general bigger waves of influence happening at much lower frequencies. More relaxed. More evolved. Or just softened up gentle eternal change, the big bang echoing out still ever so silently in between all the other noise𓆙

I’ve been thinking about how much /r/basicincome and /r/ethereum actually have in common. On the surface, they may seem like separate communities—one focusing on universal financial security and the other on blockchain technology—but at their core, they’re both pushing for something much bigger: a new, fairer way to organize society.

Both UBI and Ethereum are fundamentally about global cooperation through systems that are reliable, transparent, and accessible to everyone. They’re about creating a world where we don’t have to rely on centralized powers to uphold fairness; instead, we’re looking to decentralized, credibly neutral systems that we can all trust. It’s about reimagining how resources, influence, and value circulate across borders, using technology to realign incentives toward a more just and resilient society.

Money, when you think about it, is political. Every transaction, every dollar, every token is an influence, a ripple that spreads through society to sway opinions, move wallets, and ultimately shape reality. In a world where social media feels like an echo chamber, and where consent is constantly manufactured, the conversation about these ideas needs to go deeper—into the structures that uphold our shared reality.

For those interested in diving further into this vision, here’s a bit of inspiration from popular culture:

• Arrival – A film that shows how language, perception, and time itself can shift when we learn to see reality through a new lens.
• Outlander – A story of navigating history and power dynamics, reminding us that the structures of the past shape us today.
• Mad Men – A look at the influences and narratives crafted in the present day, showing how reality can be shaped by media and perception.
• Devs – A glimpse into a near-future where technology and consciousness intertwine, raising questions about determinism and the nature of reality itself.

These themes highlight that the way we organize, influence, and experience reality is constantly evolving. Basic Income and Ethereum represent two pathways that ultimately converge on the same goal: creating a more equitable and decentralized future.

What do you think? Are we ready to see that /r/basicincome and /r/ethereum might actually be part of the same community, working toward the same future?