{"id":847,"date":"2016-04-26T22:32:13","date_gmt":"2016-04-27T05:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/?p=847"},"modified":"2016-12-22T14:15:13","modified_gmt":"2016-12-22T22:15:13","slug":"basic-income-how-would-it-work-and-why-are-we-talking-about-it-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/?p=847","title":{"rendered":"Basic income \u2013 How would it work and why are we talking about it now?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Report from Penny U, part 2<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Basic income \u2013 from details to the big picture<\/span><\/h3>\n

If basic income is a good idea, where would the money come from? And what drives the need for more equitable income?<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is the second set of notes from a Penny U conversation in March 2016. An introduction to the topic\u00a0overall and the first set of discussion notes is\u00a0here<\/a>.\u00a0Those notes\u00a0discussed ways a basic income might affect or be affected by who we are as human beings . . .\u00a0for instance,\u00a0would it affect our sense of self worth?<\/p>\n

These notes cover\u00a0groups who\u00a0instead focused on specifics\u00a0such as, if basic income is a good idea, where would the money come from and should everyone get the same amount? Others took up a big picture view that considered society as a whole: are proposals for a basic income just attempts to mitigate capitalism, and why are we having this discussion now?<\/p>\n

How would a basic income work?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Can we find the funds? Should everyone get the same amount, or should there be prerequisites for getting the money??<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One group was quite optimistic about funding. \u201cWe could go back to a truly graduated income tax and levy a large tax on high levels of income or capital gains. We could institute Thomas Piketty\u2019s global wealth tax. We could use the War Tax. We could democratize the workplace by creating more co-ops.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe amount of a universal basic income would not be enough to live on, so we\u2019d need a hybrid approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Brazil a basic income for families comes with incentives or requirements for doing certain socially positive things, like ensuring that children attend school and be vaccinated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA German experiment with basic income requires an assessment of kids at a certain age, which raises a potential pitfall of people getting pigeonholed into a predetermined role or job when they\u2019re young.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question of prerequisites points to a distinction between the term \u2018universal basic income,\u2019 which means unconditional income with the same amount given to all, and the term \u2018minimum basic income,\u2019 which asks for proof that you need it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes universal basic income conflict with the goal of racial and gender equity, since women and people of color historically start with fewer assets? Should they get more?\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cPerhaps we could pay wages for housework as an alternative to giving basic income.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA danger is that universal basic income sounds new and exciting compared with the tired old social welfare language. A libertarian view would replace all social welfare programs with a basic income. Leave the choice of what to spend money on to the individual. Appeal to \u2018American individualism\u2019, and to our \u2018freedom as a consumer\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we really need is a universal basic income with social welfare underneath, not instead of \u2013 a hybrid approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

More and more questions<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u201cWould drug and alcohol addiction be more likely with an unconditional basic income, or would people be freed from stress, making it less<\/em> likely they\u2019d need such substances?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWould a basic income allow people to remain on or reclaim rural areas?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow big an impact would it have on a global economy? Should it be implemented on a global or a regional scale?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs basic income an authentic solution for communities in distress? What would it mean for communities of color? Would it exacerbate gentrification?\u201d \u201cHow universal is this idea? Is it just a white-guy dream of exploring the universe in a post-capitalist world?\u201d<\/p>\n

It has to be a dream on top of a broader social movement.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cBasic income isn\u2019t really a political program with a coherent organizing concept that people can come together around. It has to be a dream on top of a broader social movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be exciting if basic income could it be used as a basis to begin building a local economy, to develop a cooperative way to aggregate the funds. We could grow the community by spending locally, and we\u2019d feel connected to our neighbors.\u201d \u201cWorking cooperatively confronts the myth of individual achievement.\u201d \u201cThis would be easiest if the payments came in lump annual sums rather than smaller monthly payments. We\u2019d need cooperative banks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all comes down to organizing.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How would any of this actually get implemented? \u201cIt all comes down to organizing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The big picture: considering capitalism and the whole society<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u201cQuestions about a basic income can\u2019t be asked without considering the whole of society, its conditions, and what really counts. It depends on effects we can\u2019t predict.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s designed for a Keynesian economy that doesn\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is a universal basic income radical enough?<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cDiscussing a universal basic income raises the question of what capitalism means. And, would universal basic income just be a mitigation?\u201d \u201cLike many other proposals, providing a basic income is a concession to capitalism. A market place would need to exist on top of it, along with continuing differences in wealth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis country\u2019s obsession with individualism is based on a flawed understanding of the history of our economic reality. Resource exploitation and slavery established the basis of our economy and gave us a wildly unrealistic sense of the power of individual efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t have successful examples. Right now, a basic income would be a pure experimentt, like the Soviet Union\u2019s experiment of taking a feudal Russia directly to communism.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cPerhaps trying to implement a basic income in a society with such a well-established social economy as the U.S. is a bad place to start. Some other kind of base might have to be established first. We just don\u2019t have successful examples.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve ceded public responsibility to the private sector, basically selling off the public. And this has been going on since the \u201880s. Would a basic income, paid for by eliminating social welfare\/safety net programs, open up the possibility to finish the job quickly? to just drown the baby \u00ad\u2013 that is, government, maybe even democracy?\u201d<\/p>\n

Why are we having this discussion now? What drives the need for equitable income?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Two common responses provided a kind of backdrop: 1) the rise of automation that is destroying people\u2019s jobs and 2) the increasing income gap. These two background causes seemed to be accepted by everyone, but conversations went from there.<\/p>\n

The only reason we\u2019re even discussing this now is to prevent social upheaval.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cIt comes from necessity. We need a new version of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt\u2019s New Deal. Understanding the history of the New Deal could help it happen now.\u201d So, how did that come about? “Eleanor Roosevelt and Frances Perkins just kept pushing him forward, and eventually he got on board.”<\/p>\n

In his message to Congress on the State of the Union in January 1944, Roosevelt\u00a0introduced what has come to be known as his \u201cSecond Bill of Rights,\u201d or \u201cEconomic Bill of Rights.\u201d In introducing his eight rights, he said:\u00a0\u201cWe have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence.”<\/p>\n

People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made. <\/strong>\u2013 Franklin Delano Roosevelt<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Penny U participants went on to talk about conditions today: \u201cBoth the private sector and government are worried that if jobs are eliminated, there would be overwhelming discontent.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s possible that the private sector will get the incentive to establish and fund a basic income so people will have an income and be able to buy private sector products.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s momentum for this now. The left is interested and beginning to organize. The tech world is optimistic and getting into the act. Who knows? New markets might be formed. There are many unknowns.\u201d \u201cWe need to start creating jobs in a whole different format.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best and quickest way to solve all this would be by electing Trump. The youth are very anti-establishment. \u2018Bern it up, or burn it down.\u2019 Take the system and ameliorate it, or burn it down.\u201d<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t just ask for this. We have to repair our democratic power first.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much to do! Can social pressure encourage people to get involved? Lots of people have a sense of duty. Can we build on that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

References<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Franklin Delano Roosevelt\u2019s \u201cSecond Bill of Rights\u201d\u00a0ushistory.org\/documents\/economic_bill_of_rights.htm<\/p>\n

The Roosevelt I Knew<\/em>, by Frances Perkins\u00a0bestpossiblelife.wordpress.com\/2011\/06\/29\/frances-perkinss-book-the-roosevelt-i-knew-reissued-as-a-penguin-classic\/<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

\"9099<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Report from Penny U, part 2 Basic income \u2013 from details to the big picture If basic income is a good idea, where would the money come from? And what drives the need for more equitable income? This is the second set of notes from a Penny U conversation in March 2016. An introduction to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-penny-u","category-whats-work"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7pXN0-dF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=847"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":870,"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847\/revisions\/870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}