by Guest Contributor | Jun 4, 2020 | Opinion
We stand at a crossroads. Our great depression threatens to create a larger and more permanent underclass in the United States, as Congress loots the economic system for over $5 trillion in bailouts for the wealthy. Brave protestors and disaffected rioters have taken to the streets to speak truth to American white supremacy, even in the midst of a pandemic that threatens the lives of Black and working-class Americans the most.
George Floyd’s murder inspires unimaginable pain. We lost a soul, a neighbor, a friend, and for many—a brother—to the hands of injustice. Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Laquan McDonald, and Kalief Browder. Countless people have been stolen from their families. From every city in America. Because they were black.
To say that Black Americans live in a state of terror at the hands of unjust policing, vigilantes, and the criminal justice system is an understatement. To many, it is a militarized occupation of the cities built by their labor, in this century, and the labor of their ancestors dating back almost four hundred years.
If you name a disease in American society, whether it be heart attacks or COVID-19, poverty, or evictions, Black Americans are disproportionately brutalized. The underlying disease is white supremacy, in all its heinous and hidden forms. It hides in white systems. And it hides in white people’s hearts. The United States never achieved freedom for Black Americans. As Fredrick Douglass noted, as wage slavery and disenfranchisement replaced slavery after the Civil War, “Emancipation for the Negro was freedom to hunger, freedom to the winds and rains of heaven, freedom without roofs to cover their heads… it was freedom and famine at the same time.”
Universal basic income, an unconditional payment to all rooted in the belief that everyone has a right to natural resources and the economic fruits of our labor, represents a way to make economic freedom a reality. For Black and brown Americans, it will help counter many of the innumerable barriers to voting: the cost of voting documents, forced relocation, the inability to take off work to vote, intergenerational nihilism, and the economic insecurity that makes it impossible for poor Americans to run for office themselves. Universal Basic Income posits that an individual’s right to life, particularly in a world scourged by a pandemic, should not depend on the profit-driven interest of a corporate employer. Its philosophy contends that the more conditions put on accessing economic relief, the harder it is for people to use and access it — as any person who has received welfare or applied for unemployment benefits will tell you.
In his address to Stanford in 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. famously said that riots “are the language of the unheard” for those denied suffrage or recourse through the political system. Less appreciated is what he said immediately after: “Now one of the answers it seems to me, is a guaranteed annual income, a guaranteed minimum income for all people, and for all families of our country.”
Rooting his philosophy in a politics of hope, King called on us to implement policies that fundamentally transform government. Because millions have taken to the streets, the elite finally listens in fear, making this transformation possible. Universal Basic Income is fundamental for restoring democracy, a social contract that lays the groundwork for peace and justice. We need this compromise more than ever as inequality reaches record levels, authoritarian regimes strip ordinary people of their rights, and the destruction of our planet continues unabated. With more climate and pandemic crises on the horizon, how long will it take elites to realize that this economic system threatens the rise of violent populism?
As authoritarianism reasserts itself in the United States, Brazil, India, China, and Russia with mass surveillance and information warfare, the window for a peaceful resolution is fast departing. Now more than ever, Black and brown Americans and their allies have shown us that our only hope is taking action to demand our rights be protected. And we must be willing to risk our lives to ensure those rights are backed by transformational policies like Universal Basic Income.
Let us use this moment to demand comprehensive racial and economic justice for our nations. We owe George Floyd no less.
Article By James Davis
Picture Creator: Jesse Costa
Picture Copyright: Jesse Costa/WBUR
by Will Wachtmeister | Aug 23, 2015 | News
The IIPPE’s upcoming Annual Conference at the UK’s Leeds University features an in-depth basic income presentation by longstanding anti-poverty activist professor Ann Withorn. For more information and registration please visit the International Initiative for Promoting Political Economy website.
The abstract of Withorn’s conference contribution, which will take place at 11AM on 9 September, followed by additional conference details can be found below.
ABSTRACT
Finding Solidarity Within Precarity–Lessons from the US Welfare Rights Movement Regarding the Role of Universal Basic Income
This presentation will open discussion around three interconnecting questions:
- What does it mean to consider our current global economy as increasingly defined by “precarity” and to accept the “Precariat” as the “new dangerous class”? (Guy Standing, 2011, 2014)
- What do the experiences of people within the US Welfare Rights Movement teach us about theories and strategies for addressing a range of problems associated with economic insecurity? (Willie Baptist and Jan Rehmann, 2011)
- How does the current movement for a Universal Basic Income Guarantee have the potential to build solidarity and counter the economic and affective consequences of precarity?
Ann Withorn (right) with Diane Dujon
This presentation grows out of my 40+ years of anti-poverty activism and writing — as well as from my recent work to achieve a Universal Basic Income in Massachusetts and the US. The basic premise is that precarity is growing across many sectors of society in the US and the world — far beyond those who have been traditionally labeled poor or especially “vulnerable to poverty”. I presume that, by acknowledging our shared precarity, people today may be more able to demand recognition as legitimate members of society who are equally deserving of society’s common resources.
I will present examples of how women and men in the Welfare Rights struggles from 1966 though 2015 have claimed their rights to economic assistance and full social acceptance while struggling with their highly stigmatized status as members of the “lumpen precariat”. I will explain in some detail how my contacts with local activists both showed me the deep scariness generated for individuals, families and cultures by precarity, and offered a concrete way people within the Precariat can fight these fears: by seeking solidarity through a Basic Income for all. My goal is not only to deepen our shared knowledge but to engender a commitment to action grounded in such knowledge.
EVENT INFORMATION:
IIPPE Conference 2015, Rethinking Economics: Pluralism, Interdisciplinarity and Activism, University of Leeds, UK, September 9-11, 2014. Conference registration: https://iippe.org/wp/?page_id=2655. For more information on Ann Withorn’s presentation at the conference, contact her at withorn.ann@gmail.com.
by Citizens' Income Trust | Oct 14, 2012 | Opinion
Marion Ellison (ed.), Reinventing Social Solidarity across Europe, Policy Press, 2011, xv + 270 pp, hbk, 1 847 42727 4, £70
Social solidarity is ‘a contested, fluid, multilevel and multifaceted concept within the European polity, civil society and the public realm.’ This volume treats this solidarity as ‘a lived experience, a shared learning experience and a normative construct,’ (p.11) at the heart of which is a conflict between the EU’s Stability and Growth Pact, with predictable inequalities resulting from competitive labour markets, and a European Social Model predicated on human rights and social protections from the inequalities generated by both a globalizing economy and such policies as the Stability and Growth Pact. In the context of today’s austerity measures, the book seeks both an understanding of social solidarity in Europe and new means to create an enhanced social solidarity, nationally, within Europe, and globally. So is globalization a problem to solidarity? No. There has been no ‘race to the bottom’ amongst European welfare states, and people still find their solidarities in their families and communities. And yes, in the sense that national institutional solidarities now need to be supplemented by transnational ones, such as those generated by the EU.
Different chapters study what solidarity might mean in terms of social policy related to children, social movements (such as trade unionism), energy policy, immigration integration policy, and a European politics in which policy instruments might reduce rather than enhance social solidarity simply because the political process will always prioritise certain interests over others. The chapter which describes this last process is appropriately followed by one which shows that in post-communist European states the establishment of market economies has caused governments to discard such solidarities as predictable local labour markets.
A particularly interesting set of empirical results is represented by a table on p.219 which shows how people in different European countries differ in their attitude to government intervention to redistribute resources ( – the UK is midrange), but also that those differences are small compared to average EU acceptance of government intervention. The author of this chapter, Béla Janky, concludes that ‘Eurosceptic claims about the lack of any common ground for a Europe-wide social policy framework are unfounded’ (p.223).
The editor concludes that, whilst there are pressures towards increasing individualization and fragmentation, there are policy areas in which European social solidarity is more of a reality than it was (for instance, in energy policy), and it doesn’t seem unrealistic when he calls for a reinvention of social solidarity on a variety of levels.
Whilst books such as this can sometimes suffer from a sense of fragmentation born of the fact that each contributor has written about the subjects in which they personally are interested, the overall impression of this volume is that there is something called social solidarity and that in terms of its future there is everything to play for. Social solidarity at every level faces challenges, but there are also signs of increasing solidarity in particular policy areas, and that a broader social solidarity is perfectly possible.
by Yannick Vanderborght | Feb 25, 2012 | News
At the initiative of several green movements, this event will (among other things) include a projection of “Basic Income”, the documentary by Daniel Häni et Enno Schmidt, and a debate between basic income supporter Philippe Defeyt (former leader of the green party Ecolo) and basic income critic Bernard Friot (French sociologist and expert in issues of social protection).
This event takes place in Namur, Belgium on March 17, 2012 between 2:30PM and 10PM. Location: Faculté de médecine, Place du Palais de Justice, 5000 Namur.
Further information: https://objecteursdecroissance.be/IMG/pdf/revenu_de_base_mpoc_leger_2_.pdf
Or contact: Michèle Gilkinet <michele.gilkinet@base.be>
by Tyler Prochazka | Mar 2, 2024 | News
The Youth Leadership Council of UBI Taiwan concluded a visit to Boston, Massachusetts, showcasing their projects promoting basic income. The delegation, composed of high school students from Taiwan, engaged in a series of meetings with local leaders and organizations to gain insights about Boston’s UBI initiatives.
The Taiwanese delegation met with former Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui, known for the “Rise Up” guaranteed income program; Camp Harbor View, and United South End Settlements (USES), both of which run basic income pilots focusing on families with children. Discussions with these organizations demonstrated how basic income improved school attendance and stabilized living conditions for families struggling to pay rent.
Tyler Prochazka, founder of UBI Taiwan, said the students learned from these organizations to put passion first when designing their UBI projects.
“This trip was an eye-opening experience for our students promoting basic income. They saw how non-profit organizations have been at the forefront of making UBI a mainstream issue in the United States and the lessons they can take for making their projects a success in Taiwan.”
Boston’s organizations provided lessons for the council’s pilot to help single parents in Taiwan. UBI Taiwan’s program provides 10,000 NT a month ($300 USD) to single parents, tracking their progress through a documentary film. Steve Wei, director of the single-parent basic income program, highlighted how the program has already supported a mother moving into a better job and dealing with a health emergency. The documentary film is planned to be released in 2025, offering a window into how these lives are affected by basic income.
Allen Chen, founder of Lead For Taiwan, which co-organizes the leadership program, said: “The purpose of this visit was to combine education and social issues innovatively. We hope through this educational experience, we can guide students to find social issues they care about and make it their life goal to solve this problem.”
A theme throughout the visit was the ongoing challenge of public skepticism towards UBI. The Youth Leadership Council learned from USES that reframing the conversation to emphasize support for caregivers over the unconditionality of cash could help mitigate concerns. Another insight from the meeting was that nonprofit organizations might bridge trust gaps between recipients and government entities. This sparked discussions on the potential of public-private partnerships in administering programs that supplement UBI, such as USES’ mentorship services it provides for dealing with financial issues for recipients of its basic income.
James Davis, a special consultant for UBI Taiwan, said these discussions were important to deepen the international network of basic income advocates.
“Society’s evolution has always involved the cross-border exchange of ideas, and our team’s trip to Boston exemplifies that ideal. A permanent Universal Basic Income in Taiwan will earn global recognition and restore national solidarity.”
The council’s engagement extended to the government, with recognition from the Boston City Council and discussions on state policies with the Massachusetts Government Asian Caucus. The latter meeting underscored the shared challenges in Taiwan and the United States on funding basic income initiatives and the pushback stemming from taxation concerns.
Prochazka said meeting the former Cambridge Mayor and current City Councilor, Sumbul Siddiqui was particularly insightful for the students. Siddiqui underscored the administration challenges and impact of basic income programs for low-income families in Cambridge, a program similar to UBI Taiwan’s single-parent initiative. Councilor Siddiqui’s experience addressing the wealth gap in Cambridge provided a real-world perspective on policy implementation for the students.
Before meeting the government officials, the students completed leadership training on the Harvard campus. Workshop activities were run by the Harvard Undergraduate Global Education Movement, with mentors providing feedback on students’ projects and presentation skills.
Reflecting on these sessions, the co-director of the leadership program Bob Lin said: “Having witnessed firsthand the power of education on making social change, I was inspired by how this trip motivated the students to take action on their projects.”
One of the student’s projects included “Buddy Up,” a program that provides mentorship to vulnerable students, particularly those in single-parent households. Wesley Low is a student at Taipei American School and founded the program. He intended to supplement the UBI pilot and provide additional support beyond the cash assistance.
“This trip widened my understanding of the spectrum of issues in the world and motivated me to take greater initiative,” Low said.
The visit to Boston marks a significant milestone for the Youth Leadership Council in pushing discussions of UBI to support families in Taiwan. By engaging with international leaders, the council gained insights and showcased the potential of youth-led initiatives in driving social impact.
Evan Tseng, the student vice president of the council, reflected on the importance of thorough research and passion in driving successful initiatives, drawing parallels with Harvard students’ projects. Tseng said he was inspired to learn about a program that redirected unused masks to the homeless during the pandemic.
“This is precisely the skill we need, to find resources in the most unlikely places to succeed in your project,” he said.
About UBI Taiwan
UBI Taiwan is dedicated to exploring and implementing Universal Basic Income solutions to address social and economic challenges. Through research, advocacy, and pilot programs, UBI Taiwan aims to foster a more equitable and sustainable future.
About Lead For Taiwan
Lead For Taiwan is committed to nurturing future leaders with a focus on solving social issues through innovative education and leadership programs. Its mission is to empower young minds to lead with purpose and make a tangible impact on society.
About Ascent Academy
Ascent Academy sponsors the Leadership Immersion Program. By teaching debate and public speaking, Ascent Academy’s goal is to help students apply these skills to make real social change.
