by BIEN | Dec 21, 2016 | News
While sitting in his favorite hotel lobby in Bucharest, Romania, Opdyke was looking at his phone for the news for the day, while waiting around for none other than his girlfriend. He found a (supposedly) “non-partisan” article, written by an economist funded by the Economic Policy Institute. In the article, the economist claimed “higher wages are the solutions to America’s expanding reliance on payday lending.” Later, he found another article entitled “This robot-powered restaurant could put fast-food workers out of a job.”
By Opdyke’s estimation, these “two theses are mutually exclusive. They cannot coexist…I can promise, it’s not the position held by the economist.” Opdyke said, “I can also promise that you and I will ultimately feel the repercussions in our paychecks and in our wallets…”
With machines able to create “perfect burgers,” the argument for a $15/hr minimum makes little sense to Opdyke. Human labour value for fast food will become obsolete in the near future. He considers the possible solution of paying a basic income to all adults (which he defines as a “minimum monthly income on which people can pay for their lives”), but he dismisses the idea as too expensive, at least without a drastic increase in taxes (which he does not seem to favor).
If you want to read more, please see here:
Jeff D. Opdyke (August 24, 2016) “Basic Income Will Kill the Economy“
by Andre Coelho | Oct 28, 2016 | News
Romanian Orthodox Cathedral in Timisoara
The last thematic meeting of the CO-ACTE project was held in Timisoara, Romania, on the 16th and 17th of September. This international meeting, titled “Democratic governance of common goods for the well-being of all today and in the future”, was attended by Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) Executive Committee member André Coelho, as well as individuals from several other organizations, such as the Community Land Trust, Giuseppe Mastruzzo, Mairie de Saillans Municipality and the School of Peace. Members of local Romanian organizations were also present.
Like previous CO-ACTE meetings, the event was organized by the Together association, in collaboration with a local partner based in Timisoara, a beautiful historical city at the southeast edge of the Banat plain.
This meeting was an important step towards the final presentation of the project, which has been reported on before, to be held in Braine-l’Alleud (Belgium), November 2-4. At this event, project participants will present CO-ACTE’s 10-year development results to political actors, including top officials at the European Commission. The CO-ACTE project focuses on societal developments and public policies for the well-being of all, using the results from a large popular consultation effort (an application of a technique called the SPIRAL method).
Basic income is one of the policies defended within the CO-ACTE project, where it is considered central to achieving a balanced state of economic activity which aligns with the well-being of all, both now and for future generations. This relates perfectly with the aforementioned meeting on democratic governance, since it has long been realized that there is no real freedom, hence the shared management of common goods and direct forms of democracy, without economic security.
More information at:
CO-ACTE website
by Kate McFarland | Jul 26, 2016 | News
Anca Stanescu has launched the first Romanian website devoted to the promotion of basic income: Venit de Bază Necondiționat.
Stanescu has translated some of the work of Scott Santens into Romanian (e.g., “Dacă nu mai forțăm oamenii să muncească pentru a-și asigura nevoile de bază, nu vor înceta de tot să mai muncească?“), which is available on the new website.
Stanescu was inspired to create the website due to the lack of awareness and publicity of basic income in Romania. On the impact of Venit de Bază Necondiționat, she says, “It was really amazing to find that the information reached out to so many Romanians who did not even know about the idea of a basic income before.”
Photo CC Camil Ghircoias (flickr)
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