The Basic Income
The other day I'm riding the train and I overhear a woman telling someone how much her husband gets monthly for being on disability. $780 [ $390 every 15 days ]. She mentions how wonderful this place is; that it takes care of the old and also the young [ children ]. She's in her late 50's or mid 60's. Some time later I am in a McDonald's waiting to meet someone and I overhear one of the employees talking about how much she makes a month. $1,000 [ $250 per week before taxes ]. She's a teenager. She was also talking about how she dropped her iPhone in the toilet earlier and was surprised it still worked.
My mind begins a journey of thought. I remember a lecture I heard recently with the idea every single person in the country receiving a basic income. Every single person. So folks already working or owning income producing assets will also receive this basic income. I've heard the arguments that simply giving people money would kill the incentive for them to work. I've heard the arguments that welfare doesn't work.
I've seen people encouraged when receiving money. After receiving money, some are grateful enough to pay it back, pay it forward or do good things with that money. I've also seen people only taking and taking, not realizing that we all have a role, a responsibility and a consideration towards one another. All people and situations exist for a reason and for a purpose. Sometimes the reason is so others can learn life lessons. Sometimes the purpose is to test a response.
I've seen welfare work for women whose husbands abandoned them and their children. I've seen these same women looking for work to get away from the stigma of being on welfare. Almost gone are the days that men work and women stay home raising children. Some women desire to work while some women desire their work to be their family.
I've seen people falling back on the safety net of welfare and bouncing back, never having to use welfare again. They were grateful this system existed when relatives and friends were either unable or unwilling to help in their time of need.
I've also seen generational welfare recipients or families who do not desire to leave the system; practical experts in gaming the system for every assistance there is. There is a reason why the world has developed as it has. There is also a reason why these systems exist in the first place. Every person and every situation exists for a reason. We have living examples of how to be and how not to be, but we cannot really explain whey people do as they do.
Can one explain why the millionaire works tirelessly having amassed a fortune and rarely taking time out to enjoy their wealth? Can one explain why some people have chosen not to participate in the economy and don't care to lift a finger for themselves?
Every single person has choices to make.
There are stories of people who were once homeless and became multimillionaires. There are also stories of multimillionaires that became homeless. There are stories of people who desire to live life and not be found in either extreme.
It is an issue of morale, character and ethics any way you look at things. These attributes cannot be inserted into people, they have to be taught or sought after. Any amount of money thrown at someone doesn't always change their heart for the better. I have seen the removal of money change people, some for the better and others for the worse.
So what if everyone were to receive a basic income? What if this would replace the systems which can be gamed? What would really happen?
I suppose the buying and selling would increase. I suppose the economic system would be stimulated. If economic systems would be stimulated then corporations and small businesses alike would realize an increase in revenue. I wonder if overall productivity would increase since money is being returned directly to people instead of being funneled through bureaucratic offices. Quite a few government jobs may be closed.
The homeless who have temporarily lost themselves may now have money enough to eat, to clothe themselves and maybe enough to find a roof over their heads. Instead of having to be out on the street, they can have time to think, to read and to ponder what they'd like to do with the gift of life they have. Life isn't just about that brutal mantra 'get to work.' Some folks are very content with little, having just enough to have food in their stomachs periodically. It is the appetite to consume that is marketed to all which may be an issue.
Those who already have jobs, will they simply quit? How about those who make several times more than the basic income rate? Will they simply quit and scratch out a living on a lesser income? Wouldn't folks with a healthy income actually spend the extra funds on a vacation or on consumer items? Some, however, would take the extra income ( as they've been doing already ) and put it towards investments, savings, etc.
Some things I've done personally when I had more money; I was able to make time for myself and for others. I was able to spend more time with relatives and friends. I was able to read more. I was able to learn. I was able to think. I was able to lower actual 'working hours' and turn them into more productive hours. But not in productivity as an economist would define that term. When 'productivity' is rated by labor output, you are rating people like you would a workhorse or a piece of machinery. That is inhumane.
I became more productive as a human being when I realized life wasn't all about chasing material possessions / consuming what others said was worthwhile.
Perhaps there is a fear that some have in providing sustenance for others. Perhaps they fear losing desperate people willing to work for desperate wages. Perhaps the game would dissolve right before their eyes. Which game you may ask? The game of monkey see monkey do. The game that the poor play in trying to be like the rich, buying the things the rich buy and looking like the rich. The game of consumerism which makes the stock market players millionaires and impoverishes the already destitute.
A basic income isn't going to make millionaires out of today's welfare recipients, nor is it going to make welfare recipients out of today's millionaires... but this is the fear of treating others like human beings. The fear of seeing your reflection when you look at another person who has less than you.
My mind begins a journey of thought. I remember a lecture I heard recently with the idea every single person in the country receiving a basic income. Every single person. So folks already working or owning income producing assets will also receive this basic income. I've heard the arguments that simply giving people money would kill the incentive for them to work. I've heard the arguments that welfare doesn't work.
I've seen people encouraged when receiving money. After receiving money, some are grateful enough to pay it back, pay it forward or do good things with that money. I've also seen people only taking and taking, not realizing that we all have a role, a responsibility and a consideration towards one another. All people and situations exist for a reason and for a purpose. Sometimes the reason is so others can learn life lessons. Sometimes the purpose is to test a response.
I've seen welfare work for women whose husbands abandoned them and their children. I've seen these same women looking for work to get away from the stigma of being on welfare. Almost gone are the days that men work and women stay home raising children. Some women desire to work while some women desire their work to be their family.
I've seen people falling back on the safety net of welfare and bouncing back, never having to use welfare again. They were grateful this system existed when relatives and friends were either unable or unwilling to help in their time of need.
I've also seen generational welfare recipients or families who do not desire to leave the system; practical experts in gaming the system for every assistance there is. There is a reason why the world has developed as it has. There is also a reason why these systems exist in the first place. Every person and every situation exists for a reason. We have living examples of how to be and how not to be, but we cannot really explain whey people do as they do.
Can one explain why the millionaire works tirelessly having amassed a fortune and rarely taking time out to enjoy their wealth? Can one explain why some people have chosen not to participate in the economy and don't care to lift a finger for themselves?
Every single person has choices to make.
There are stories of people who were once homeless and became multimillionaires. There are also stories of multimillionaires that became homeless. There are stories of people who desire to live life and not be found in either extreme.
It is an issue of morale, character and ethics any way you look at things. These attributes cannot be inserted into people, they have to be taught or sought after. Any amount of money thrown at someone doesn't always change their heart for the better. I have seen the removal of money change people, some for the better and others for the worse.
So what if everyone were to receive a basic income? What if this would replace the systems which can be gamed? What would really happen?
I suppose the buying and selling would increase. I suppose the economic system would be stimulated. If economic systems would be stimulated then corporations and small businesses alike would realize an increase in revenue. I wonder if overall productivity would increase since money is being returned directly to people instead of being funneled through bureaucratic offices. Quite a few government jobs may be closed.
The homeless who have temporarily lost themselves may now have money enough to eat, to clothe themselves and maybe enough to find a roof over their heads. Instead of having to be out on the street, they can have time to think, to read and to ponder what they'd like to do with the gift of life they have. Life isn't just about that brutal mantra 'get to work.' Some folks are very content with little, having just enough to have food in their stomachs periodically. It is the appetite to consume that is marketed to all which may be an issue.
Those who already have jobs, will they simply quit? How about those who make several times more than the basic income rate? Will they simply quit and scratch out a living on a lesser income? Wouldn't folks with a healthy income actually spend the extra funds on a vacation or on consumer items? Some, however, would take the extra income ( as they've been doing already ) and put it towards investments, savings, etc.
Some things I've done personally when I had more money; I was able to make time for myself and for others. I was able to spend more time with relatives and friends. I was able to read more. I was able to learn. I was able to think. I was able to lower actual 'working hours' and turn them into more productive hours. But not in productivity as an economist would define that term. When 'productivity' is rated by labor output, you are rating people like you would a workhorse or a piece of machinery. That is inhumane.
I became more productive as a human being when I realized life wasn't all about chasing material possessions / consuming what others said was worthwhile.
Perhaps there is a fear that some have in providing sustenance for others. Perhaps they fear losing desperate people willing to work for desperate wages. Perhaps the game would dissolve right before their eyes. Which game you may ask? The game of monkey see monkey do. The game that the poor play in trying to be like the rich, buying the things the rich buy and looking like the rich. The game of consumerism which makes the stock market players millionaires and impoverishes the already destitute.
A basic income isn't going to make millionaires out of today's welfare recipients, nor is it going to make welfare recipients out of today's millionaires... but this is the fear of treating others like human beings. The fear of seeing your reflection when you look at another person who has less than you.
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