by Karl Widerquist | May 3, 2016 | News
“The World’s Biggest Question” under construction
Grundeinkommen has announced that it will unfurl the word’s largest poster with the biggest question in the world on the huge Plainpalais Promenade in Geneva, on May 14th, 2016. The question will ask:
“What Would You Do if Your Income Were Taken Care of?”
The margins of the poster will contain The Biggest Question in the World in over 60 different languages. The unfurling will happen a few weeks before Switzerland goes to the polls on June 4th, 2016 over whether to implement an unconditional basic income.
More than 1,200 people have crowdfunded about 200,000 Euros to have the biggest question in the world printed on the biggest poster in the world. The poster measures approximately 8,000 square meters and weighs about seven tons. These dimensions will exceed the current Guinness World Record for the largest poster to date, as exhibited by Iraqui pilot Fareed Lafta. Representatives from Guinness will be at the scene in Geneva to inspect Grundeinkommen’s bid for the new record.
Volunteers cut up freight truck tarpaulins in the Swiss village of Rüti/Glarus and fused them together to produce individual puzzle segments. In addition they underwent an enormous joint effort to apply the gold letters to a black tarp so that “The Biggest Question in the World” became the biggest poster in the world.
Computer created preview of the poster
The world record poster will not be scrapped after the presentation; instead, Grundeinkommen’s partner Swiss Mountain Händ Bägs will rework it into Question Bags, World Record Rucksacks, toiletries bags and other products. These products are now available at the crowdfunding platform Startnext and will later be available at Grundeinkommen’s own Onlineshop.
Date: May 14th, 2016
Place: Geneva, Plaine de Plainpalais (English: Plainpalais Promenade)
Time: Starting 11:00 AM: Installation of the poster; by around 12:00 noon the poster will be fully unfurled; the event concludes at around 4:00 PM.
Media Contact
– Marilola Wili, E: marilola.wili@grundeinkommen.ch, T: +41 76 201 96 98
For more information
Online
– startnext.com/groesstefrage
– grundeinkommen.ch/
Photos
– Flickr
Video
– Blick
– Tele Bärn
– Startnext
Media
– Schweiz am Sonntag
– Südostschweiz
– enorm
– n-tv
Grundeinkommen Volunteers
by Toru Yamamori | Apr 30, 2016 | News
Yanis Varoufakis, the former Greece finance minister, encourages the Swiss people to vote ‘yes’ for universal basic income (UBI) at the national referendum scheduled on 5th June.
In the video interview with the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute, the Greek economist argues that the future picture of technological progress could be either the Star Trek version, in which the progress can make us equal and free, or the Matrix version in which the progress enslaves us.
In another interview, with the Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeiger (the translation of which is available here), he says:
Because Switzerland is doing so well, it is ideal for experiments with the basic income. But don’t forget, in spite of the wealth, the quality of life is decreasing. What good is a well-paid job if you are scared to lose it? This constant fear paralyzes people and makes them ill. Switzerland should see the basic income as an investment in the future.
Varoufakis, first spke out in favour of basic income in an interview published for The Economist.
Varoufakis will be one of speakers at the UBI event on 4th May in Zurich, Switzerland.
by Karl Widerquist | Apr 29, 2016 | News
On Saturday April 30 the globally first robot protest march will take place in Zurich, the financial capital of Switzerland. With more than 100 robots dancing in the streets and hundreds of supporters, the event is a major call for an Unconditional Basic Income.
On 5th June 2016, Switzerland will become the first country worldwide to hold a national referendum on the introduction of an Unconditional Basic Income (UBI).
According to the organizers, the message of the protesting robots is “We want to work for the humans. But we do not want to bring them into existential difficulties by taking over their jobs. The main challenge of the 4th industrial revolution is that humans receive a secure income.”
According to the organizers, the main idea of an UBI is to secure the basic needs of human life unconditionally. It stresses the topic of human self-determined freedom.
Meeting: 2 pm, Werdmühlplatz 14, Zurich
Protest start: 2:30 pm
Route: Werdmühleplatz – Bahnhofstrasse – Bürkliplatz (officially confirmed by police)
More info:
Che Wagner, Spokesperson Referendum for Unconditional Basic Income in Switzerland, Mobile: +41 76 230 75 29,
Email: che@grundeinkommen.ch
www.basicincome2016.org
www.grundeinkommen.ch
Robots for Basic Income
by Kate McFarland | Apr 28, 2016 | Research
On June 5th, the people of Switzerland will go to the polls to vote on a referendum to enact a basic income — marking the first time that a basic income has been submitted to the popular vote. Although the basic income initiative received little support in Parliament, about 40% of Swiss citizens support the referendum, according to a recent survey.
A new book, Voting for Freedom by Daniel Häni and Philip Kovce, lays out the arguments for a basic income in Switzerland, and explains why the referendum is a “milestone in the advancement of democracy.”
As the book’s press release describes the basic income initiative, “The proposal creates new alliances and causes old ones to fall apart. The reason: Unconditional basic income asks the right questions.”
Daniel Häni was one of the instigators of the popular initiative for a basic income; he is also CEO and co-founder of unternehmen mitte, Switzerland’s largest coffee house. Philip Kovce is a freelance writer and a researcher that the Basler Philosophicum and Witten Institute of Economics and Philosophy, as well as a member of Think Tank 30.
Prominent venture capitalist Albert Wenger (partner of Union Square Ventures) writes the forward.
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by Stanislas Jourdan | Apr 24, 2016 | News
While the Swiss campaign for basic income is approaching the finish line before the national referendum on June 5th, an encouraging poll shows a rapidly growing level of support.
The polling company Tamedia asked 20,000 people about their voting intentions on the next referendum day (which includes 3 other issues along with basic income).
The results suggest that 33% of the population would certainly vote ‘yes’ while 7% would probably vote ‘yes’. Meanwhile, 50% of those surveyed oppose the referendum, with another 7% ‘rather’ opposed. According to the swiss campaign, the level of support has almost doubled since the last poll, conducted in early 2016.
In the French speaking parts of Switzerland, the level of support even reaches 50%.
“This is a very positive result showing a rapidly growing support for the idea in Switzerland. Everything remain possible. As many people are still uninformed, this means the Yes still has some room for progress,” BIEN-Switzerland’s Anna-Béa Duparc said.
However, only a small fraction of the population (3%) is yet undecided about the topic, making the last 5 weeks of the campaign very challenging.
