Tag: guaranteed income

(Unsplash/public domain) Economists, philosophers and political thinkers have long pondered how to end poverty. Lately, an old idea has taken on new life. A universal basic income (UBI) is an unconditional, regular cash payment from the state to every citizen. Proponents see it as a safety net for anyone battered by the fast-changing, globalized economy. Some in Silicon Valley have taken a shining to the proposal, seeing it as a way to stymie inequality should robots take our jobs .

The idea has been around a lot longer than robots, though. In 1516, in his political treatise Utopia , Sir […]

Full Post at journalistsresource.org

As technology developers rush to create ever more sophisticated machines to replace a wide range of jobs, a new dream for society is gaining momentum.

That dream is based on the concept of a “universal basic income” whereby every citizen receives a guaranteed income to cover basic needs, that is unconditional and has no strings attached.

The concept is currently being spearheaded by the entrepreneurs and technology giants of California’s Silicon Valley, but the idea has a long history of proponents on the left and right of the political spectrum. Free money? What’s not to love? For those on the […]

Full Post at www.medicalrepublic.com.au

The basic income guarantee (BIG) is a government insured guarantee that no citizen’s income will fall below some minimal level for any reason. All citizens would receive a BIG without means test or work requirement. BIG is an efficient and effective solution to poverty that preserves individual autonomy and work incentives while simplifying government social policy. Some researchers estimate that a small BIG, sufficient to cut the poverty rate in half could be financed without an increase in taxes by redirecting funds from spending programs and tax deductions aimed at maintaining incomes. In 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, […]

Full Post at www.e-socialist.com

In 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, "I am now convinced that the simplest approach will prove to be the most effective – the solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income." He was right. It is obvious that the simplest solution to poverty is a direct, unconditional, universal basic income paid out equally to all citizens. Such a payment prevents any given citizen’s income from falling below that point. And it was widely discussed at the time. But this was not the first time that it had been so […]

Full Post at www.e-socialist.com

The Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) is a government ensured guarantee that no one’s income will fall below the level necessary to meet their most basic needs for any reason. As Bertrand Russell put it in 1918, "A certain small income, sufficient for necessities, should be secured for all, whether they work or not, and that a larger income should be given to those who are willing to engage in some work which the community recognizes as useful. On this basis we may build further." Thus, with BIG no one is destitute but everyone has the positive incentive to work. […]

Full Post at www.e-socialist.com

Picture: Getty There isn’t much to distinguish the town of Dauphin, Manitoba (population 8,457) from anywhere else in the Canadian prairies. Its junior ice hockey team won the provincial championships in 2010. The high school and airfield are named after a decorated local First World War hero. Most of its citizens owe their living to oilseed and grain farming, and are mostly descended from Ukrainians, Scots and Irish who settled there in the past 150 years, or the natives who were there when they arrived.

It’s ordinariness does nothing to betray that for a few years in the […]

Full Post at www.scotsman.com

Richard Dalkeith, left, and Lorena Shepley ask for a show of hands to support an emergency resolution to raise Ontario Works rates during discussions on the Basic Income pilot project Monday at University of Windsor’s Vanier Hall. Re: Windsor input sought on guaranteed income, by Chris Thompson, Jan. 31.

I want to thank Chris Thompson and the Windsor Star for the article regarding the Ontario Minister of Community and Social Services open forum on a guaranteed basic income.

If Canadians understood how perverted and unaccountable Social Services is, they would insist that it be abolished.I know of a disabled man […]

Full Post at windsorstar.com

PARIS — I am, therefore I’m paid.

The radical notion that governments should hand out free money to everyone — rich and poor, those who work and those who don’t — is slowly but surely gaining ground in Europe. Yes, you read that right: a guaranteed monthly living allowance, no strings attached.

In France, two of the seven candidates vying to represent the ruling Socialist Party in this year’s presidential election are promising modest but regular stipends to all French adults. A limited test is already underway in Finland, with other experiments planned elsewhere, including in the United States.Called "universal income" […]

Full Post at chieftain.com

There is a certain elegance to the notion of the basic income payment. Of course, I hate it anyway. The idea is that people who can afford to pay taxes pay taxes and every single person gets a check from the government for basic necessities.

Let’s put it into numbers. Let’s say the governments of this country spend $5 trillion in redistributing wealth.

I consider much of defense spending redistributing wealth from the taxpayer to the corporations. The US spends as much on so-called defense as the rest of the world combined–that is not necessary for defense in “peacetime.” Let’s […]

Full Post at propagandareportdaily.com

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