A group of basic income supporters in Germany is about to launch a nationwide “tour”, featuring a series of events and speakers on the topic.
BGE Tournee 2017 will commence in Bonn on January 21, with a series of lectures and discussion periods. (BGE is an abbreviation for “bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen”, the German term for unconditional basic income.)
Invited speakers comprise members of three different German political parties — the Greens (Grüne), Pirates (Piraten), and “the Left” (die LINKE) — as well as representatives from several advocacy groups promoting an unconditional basic income:
– Dagmar Partenoga of the advocacy group Attac.
– Sascha Liebermann, professor of sociology and founder of the “freedom instead of full employment” initiative.
– Ulrich Buchholz of the Bonner Initiative for a Basic Income.
– Winfried Gather, secretary of the Catholic Worker Movement in the Diocese of Cologne.
– Wolfgang Strengmann-Kuhn, MP, economist and member of the German Bundestag; member of the Grünes Grundeinkommen (Green Basic Income) network.
– Charly Hörster of the democratic-socialist party DIE LINKE.
– Jürgen Jack_R of the basic income workgroup of the German Pirate Party.
Following the inaugural event in Bonn, BGE Tournee 2017 will continue with events in Kiel (March 25), Eisenach (April 8), Frankfurt (April 22), and Berlin (April 29). Later events are currently being planned in Bremen, Hannover, Rostock, Stuttgart, and Würzburg.
The idea for BGE Tournee 2017 grew out of a meeting of basic income supporters in 2016 in the small city of Andernach, initiated by Claudia Laux of the German Green Party. Founding member Kostas Thomopoulos says that, at the meeting in Andernach, “we created a movement, and we hope to win the struggle for freedom and justice. Because, we think, the basic income is the right solution for everyone in the future.”
Currently, leaders of BGE Tournee 2017 are continuing to meet with other German organizations sympathetic to basic income, and hope recruit an even broader range of speakers for future events.
Post reviewed by Danny Pearlberg.
Photo (Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle) CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 jaime.silva
