A False Promise
By Ian Gough, Great Transition Initiative
Universal basic income is a policy rather than a fundamental value or goal of collective action, unlike freedom, equality, well-being, or sustainability.
Tag: Universal basic income
A Cornerstone of a Moral Economy
By Jeremy Lent, Great Transition Initiative
A full-fledged UBI—one that unconditionally provides every person with enough income to meet their basic needs—would fundamentally alter the paradigm of capitalism that has locked workers into the dominant system ever since its inception.
The Case for a Basic Income
By Guy Standing, Great Transition Initiative
A basic income system would aim to assure basic economic security to all, independent of employment, by providing every legal resident of a country with an equal monthly sum of money, without conditions, as an economic right.
Basic income could virtually eliminate poverty in the United Kingdom at a cost of £67 billion per year
By Karl Widerquist, Open Democracy
Universal Basic Income (UBI) – a policy that would provide a regular, cash income to every citizen without means test or work requirement – is surprisingly inexpensive.
Thomas Paine’s 1797 call for a Basic Income: a New Paper Tells the Full Story
By Brent Ranalli, Feasta
If you know something about Basic Income, you may be aware that one of the first proposals for a Basic Income came from Thomas Paine, hero of the American and French revolutions.
Basic Income in the ‘Long Now’: Three Critical Considerations for the Future(s) of Alternative Welfare Systems
By Rok Kranjc, Labgov
In the following I outline three critical areas that in my opinion can further the UBI debate, guided by the overarching question of what might an open ended, ecologically sound and socially just welfare system and pathway towards it look like.
Making Culture for the Change in the Making: Psychological Underpinnings of the Shift to an Egalitarian Society
By Katarzyna Gajewska, P2P Foundation Blog
Although creating an alternative culture requires effort, some effort is also put in maintaining the dominant culture. So the question is where to put the effort.
A Jobless Economy
By Samuel Miller McDonald, Activist Lab
Despite the legitimate concerns surrounding a guaranteed income, there is at least one self-evident ethical reason a guaranteed, non-labor income of no less than equivalent to a living wage (today about $15 per hour) should pay every American: most today suffer a state of forced labor.
Universal Basic Income: Pennies from Heaven by Paul O’Brien – Review
By Caroline Whyte, Feasta
Basic income would not eliminate the tired old choice between capitalism and socialism, right and left, but as O’Brien puts it, it would create a more ‘humane framework’ in which to make our political decisions. All in all it’s an exciting idea, and this book is well worth reading if you’re even mildly curious to learn more about its potential.
Basic Income in the ‘Long Now’: Three Critical Considerations for the Future(s) of Alternative Welfare Systems
By Rok Kranjc, Labgov
Many of today’s proposals for and experiments with Universal Basic Income (UBI) in so-called developed countries seem to be congruent with, and indeed in some instances explicitly catered towards maintaining the dominant political economic architecture and status quo imaginary.
Beyond Temptation: Addiction and Basic Income
By Tyler Prochazka, Katarzyna Gajewska, Basic Income Earth Network
One of the persistent criticisms of the Universal Basic Income is that it would either entice people to purchase addictive substances, such as alcohol, or enable existing addictions through the added cash benefit. Dr. Katarzyna Gajewska, an independent scholar researching the UBI, has studied this question in the past. Her unique insights deserve further exploration.
Basic Income’s Third Wave
By Karl Widerquist, Open Democracy
The drive toward a basic income isn’t new. It’s a 100-year-old movement that has gotten stronger each time inequality has returned to the public discussion. Support for unconditional basic income (UBI) has grown so rapidly over the past few years that some might think the idea appeared out of nowhere. In fact, activists have been floating the plan – and other forms of a basic income guarantee (BIG) – for over a century.