Last Monday, on the 29th of April, a special event was held in Suwon, a city in the province of Gyeonggi-do, just south of Seoul, South Korea. This event was conceived as a fair, the first of its kind, and was focused on basic income, having attracted more than 18 thousand people.
Announced in a previous report, the two-day event was featured by numerous experts on basic income and related policies. It was propelled by the recent adoption, in the cited province, of a local currency unconditional cash transfer to young people (born in 1995), dubbed “Youth Dividend”. This local currency is issued by the city, and so can only be spent in small or mid-size local businesses (which can help boost the local economy).
Moreover, according to Gyeonggi-do spokesperson, Kim Yong, the province regional government will work with other regions of South Korea in order to study basic income implementation “in more depth”. Kim Yong also guarantees there are other basic income-type policies being studied in the province, while the “Youth Dividend” scheme is presented in other 60 regions within South Korea. During the fair, the formation of a “Basic Income Council” was alluded to by local authorities, grouping 34 local autonomies, most within Gyeonggi-do.
The basic income fair was also a way to inform the general public about basic income as a policy itself, and how it is being pursued in the world. A short video report can be watched here (News Center):
As reported before, the Indian State of Sikkim, through the political party Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), presently holding power, is “committed to bringing Universal Basic Income” (UBI). The state is currently under an electoral process, which is set to terminate until the 27th of May. Other parties are contending the election (e.g.: Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM)), but these are unlikely to overthrow SDF, according to polls.
SDF officials are considering funding an UBI policy with hydropower revenue which, however, does not come without controversy, since some of these installations have affected sensitive ecosystems and the people dependent on them (the Lepchas). According to Tseten Lepcha, working President of the Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT), in Sikkim, at least one of the largest hydropower projects are not well equipped with transmission lines, which limits the amount of electricity able to flow out of the installation, curbing its rentability (and, therefore, the available funds for the future UBI). The ATC also sustains that the regional government hasn’t taken due provisions to limit environmental and social impacts in the affected areas, which is definitely a contested issue with government officials (who believe all those issues have been taken care of).
One of these provisions has to due with the area of cultivable land that has gone under water, from which people from the affected areas drew their subsistence. That due to the existing power plants, a problem which will be aggravated by around 20 more hydropower projects still in planning. Locals are concerned about this issue, which directly affects their livelihood. However, they generally support the idea of a UBI being implemented in Sikkim.
A short video can be watched, summarizing the content around UBI’s proposal in Sikkim:
This week, on May 7th, Guy Standing will be presenting a report prepared at the request of the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, John McDonnell MP. The complete title of the report is “Piloting Basic Income as Common Dividends”.
The event is organized by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) and the Progressive Economy Forum (PEF), and will take place at the RSA’s Great Room Auditorium, at 11 am. It will be introduced by RSA’s Director Anthony Painter and PEF’s Chair Patrick Allen, followed by an opening keynote by John McDonnell himself. After that Guy Standing will present the fifty-page report in about thirty minutes, which will then be openly discussed by commentators Ed Miliband, former Labour Party Leader, Margaret Greenwood, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, and Caroline Abrahams, Age UK Director, as well as in a round of questions and answers with the audience.
Although other books and reports have been made public, focused on basic income for the British reality (e.g.: Annie Miller’s “A basic income pocketbook”, Malcolm Torry’s “Why we need a Citizen’s Basic Income”), this was the first time a British politician has specifically asked for a report on basic income. As Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell and the Labour Party had been flirting with the idea, however, since early 2016 (even though McDonnell had been a basic income supporter as far back as 2014).
A new website was created, and just launched, to provide updated news and information about UBI (Unconditional Basic Income), with the goal of furthering the discussion about how UBI impacts purpose, identity, and dignity. It will convey content from general news and include original material from the editor-in-chief and UBI activist, Scott Santens. The website is called Basic Income Today.
Editorially, Basic Income Today will focus on seven broad themes:
Workforce Automation: How technology and artificial intelligence (AI) built to accelerate economies can displace human workers and how individuals and economies cope and evolve.
Social Justice: Centered around the relationship between UBI and those affected by the results of workforce automation, mitigating a new vision for society to re-imagine this social contract for the 21st century.
Income Inequality: Today, many people must work several jobs they do not enjoy, just to keep a roof over their heads. We discuss the ramifications of wealth distributed so unevenly, and its effects on those not sure that they will be able to meet their families’ basic needs.
The Basics of UBI: Not familiar with the concept? This type of content is designed to demystify the noise and false information surrounding the idea of UBI, bringing you a clearer, less biased picture.
Success Stories: Evaluating the results where UBI is instituted and how people, paid and unpaid work, business, and the economy benefits.
The Social Debate: There is certainly no lack of opinions on this as yet unimplemented policy. A balanced view of the arguments, pro and con, is shown. Also, the journal is open to all reader’s ideas, as an interactive platform.
Pilots & Experiments: Who’s adopting UBI, where it’s happening, and how it’s progressing.
Speaking panel at the Lomonosov Moscow State University.
There is a growing interest about basic income in Russia, at least on the academic level. Leading Russian Universities have been organizing discussions around the issue, with the support and participation of the movement Basic Income Russia Tomorrow. Given the world-leading recognition Russian universities enjoy, this may be a fact of central importance for the global development of the basic income movement.
Just a few days later, on the 25th April 2019, at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, another event took place, as a part of the International Scientific – Practical Conference IX “Abalkin`s Readings”. At this Conference, basic income was discussed in a section entitled “Mechanisms for improving the system of labour relations”, chaired by professors Vyacheslav Bobkov and Irina Soboleva.
