by Karl Widerquist | Dec 6, 2015 | News
The 150,000 residents of the Brazilian city of Maricá will receive a monthly basic income of about 2.7 dollars, paid in local currency.
On December 3, Thursday, 2015, at the Faculty of Economics and Administration of the University of São Paulo, FEA-USP, the Mayor Washington Quaquá (PT), of the Municipality of Maricá, State of Rio de Janeiro, announced that from December 2015 on, all 150 thousand inhabitants of Maricá, as long as they have been living there for a year or more, will start to receive an Unconditional Citizens Basic Income of ten Mumbucas per month. Mumbuca is a social money intended to stimulate all kinds of solidarity economy forms that already exist in Maricá, such as the cooperative of the Landless Workers Movement (MST) that sell their goods to a Supermarket that accept payments in mumbucas from their clients. All small stores in Maricá accept payment in mumbucas. One Mumbuca is equivalent to R$ 1.00. Therefore, 10 mumbucas is a modest amount equivalent to US$ 2.70 per month, but it is a courageous start. There is a perspective that this amount might increase gradually with the progress of the city. Maricá has one important source of revenue since it receives part of the oil royalties that are explored in front of its sea coast. Mayor Quaquá also informed that he has introduced a free public system of transportation to the whole population of Maricá.
Eduardo Suplicy
Professor Paul Singer, National Secretary of Solidarity Economy, praised the announcement at this conference meeting. He explained that while the Bolsa Família Program is an efficient tool to eradicate extreme poverty, the Unconditional Citizens Basic Income is a Human Right equal for all that will always be there. Mayor Quaquá explained that 14 thousand families, one fourth of the population of Maricá nowadays receive the Bolsa Mumbuca or 85 mumbucas per month. If a family has six persons, it will receive 60 mumbucas more per month, summing up to 145. Professors David and Sabetai Calderoni explained that a new Factory of Recycled Material will be inaugurated in Maricá. The city produces 15 tons per day of garbage. The mill that will recycle the garbage will be a new source of revenue that may contribute to increase the Basic Income. David Calderoni will be the Rector of the Democratic Inventions University Darcy Ribeiro. It will help to organize next June in Maricá the Festival of Utopia. Professors Leda Paulani and Eduardo Suplicy, Honorary President of BIEN exalted the new initiative that may be followed by other municipalities, such as Santo Antonio do Pinhal and Apiaí that have approved laws to institute gradually the Citizens Basic Income.
Eduardo Matarazzo Suplicy emphasized that the Maricá initiative may encourage President Dilma Rousseff to form a Working Group to study the steps in the direction of a Citizens Basic Income to all 204 million inhabitants of Brazil, including the foreigners living in the country for a year or more, as it is written in the Law 10.835/2004, approved by all parties in the Brazilian Congress and sanctioned by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in February 8, 2004. Suplicy has asked for an audience to the President to talk about this subject. He has proposed a list of 70 names among the best scholars on how to eradicate poverty and how to build a just and civilized society, to be members of this study group. Those economists, philosophers and social scientists that attended the XV International Congress of BIEN in Montreal in June 2014, signed a letter to President Dilma Rousseff saying that they are ready to contribute for this purpose. The President told Suplicy that she will receive him to talk about this as soon as these difficult times have passed away.
Credit picture CC Ana Guzzo
by Karl Widerquist | Nov 29, 2015 | News
The NABIG Congress has extended the deadline for the call for papers to January 18, 2016. The organizers write, “You are invited to submit a proposal for participation at the North American Basic Income Guarantee (NABIG) Congress which will take place in Winnipeg, Manitoba on May 12-15, 2016. We are eager to receive proposals for presentations, panels, papers, and posters. The revised deadline for submission of proposals is January 18, 2016.”
Further details can be found in the NABIG Call for Participation. If you have any questions, please contact nabigcongress2016@umanitoba.ca
Website: https://www.basicincomecanada.org/
BICN
by Karl Widerquist | Oct 29, 2015 | News
From UBIE
The Dutch Basic Income Network releases the following invitation to its upcoming conference:
Dear friends in BIEN and UBIE,
We have the pleasure of inviting you to the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Dutch Basic Income Association (Vereniging Basisinkomen), which will be held from 29 to 31 January 2016. in Maastricht, Maasboulevard 101, 6211 JW, The Netherlands, (tel + 31 (0)43 750 17 90).
Lately, there is much controversy and misunderstanding relating to definitions in The Netherlands about all kinds of initiatives concerning the universal basic income (UBI) among groups as different as activists, citizens, members of city councils, scholars, politicians, opion leaders. Obviously, the most prominent issues for the basic income movement in our country – as well as for UBIE and BIEN – are these days questions about the benefits and disadvantages of the introduction of a partial basic income and questions around the promises and limitations of experiments with a basic income. We hope to present an interesting programme by addressing these problems in a broader, international setting. So all our friends from The Netherlands and from abroad are invited to participate, so that we can make this twenty-fifth anniversary a real international event. We propose the following programme:
29 January
The focus will be on the members of our society and therefore the event will be in Dutch.
In the evening there will be a communal dinner served as a buffet. Afterwards there will be the possibilty of dancing at a Salsa-night.
30 January
There will be an international congress in English. All members of UBIE and BIEN who want to join this event are welcome just as all the members of our society. The main question that will be discussed during the day is What role for a modest participation income?. Short introductions will be given by Guy Standing, Philippe van Parijs, Enno Schmidt and Sjir Hoeijmakers. There will be plenty of time for discussion. See keynote speaker page.
In the evening focus will be on another urgent subject Promises and limitations of pilot projects and controlled experiments. Do we need more schemes for them or not? We hope that the issue will provoke a lively debate between the day keynote speakers and participants.
31 January
Twenty-five years ago on this same day, our association was founded. Let’s celebrate this remarkable beginning/fact with The stories we tell. Erica Scott, Sérgio Alvès and Wiebke Fercho will talk about the role of stories and narratives as crucial ingredients in communication aiming towards a sustainable society as well as of the importance of taking personal values into consideration when designing a narrative for an initiative with the intention of creating societal change. They will also present the results of their study that analysed how the narrative of the European Citizens Initiative for an Unconditional Basic Income from 2013 spoke to the values of the population of the European Union. Finally, they will briefly present how we can design a better narrative for the initiative of an unconditional basic income. See keynote speaker page.
Afterwards there will be a UBIE working conference which is open to all. Of course, only UBIE members are authorized to take final decisions.
All these activities will take place in Stayokay Hostel Maastricht.
Please visit https://basisinkomen.org for more information, program, registration, travel
[Direct conference link: https://basicincome-europe.org/ubie/2015/09/celebration-of-the-25th-anniversary-of-the-dutch-basic-income-association/]
by Karl Widerquist | Oct 19, 2015 | News
Tristan Roberts, organizer
On Thursday, October 29, 2015, Tristan Roberts will host a discussion on strategies towards a post-Scarcity society. The group will explore the current and possible future implementations of Universal Basic Income, at the local, national, and international levels. According to the organizers, “We’ll also be discussing radical solutions that may supplant the current economic system. Technology, in the form of cryptocurrencies, is actively being designed to create transparent microstates. Besides offering transparent governance, some of these modular, voluntary communities will feature digital currencies that have progressive wealth redistribution at their core. In other words, a bitcoin-like, blockchain-based universal basic income.”
The discussion will take place at 7PM, in the NextSpace coworking office on the 2nd floor of 1 Hallidie Plaza, San Francisco, CA.
Topics include:
*The status of the Swiss referendum for a Universal Basic Income
*The Finnish and Dutch efforts towards experimenting with Basic Income on city-wide levels,
*Alaska’s Citizen Dividend and Oregon’s possible Carbon Dividend
*Bitnation’s attempt to create modular, transparent governance
*Next-generation, Ethereum-based cryptocurrencies that feature wealth redistribution
Details:
Political and Technological Strategies towards a post-Scarcity Society
Thursday, October 29, 2015
7:00 PM, NextSpace coworking office
1 Hallidie Plaza, 2nd floor, San Francisco, CA
More information: https://www.meetup.com/San-Francisco-Bay-Area-Basic-Income-Meetup/events/226127519/
by Karl Widerquist | Oct 16, 2015 | News, The Indepentarian
Alaska’s small basic income, the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD), is coming under increasing political attacks as the state’s fiscal crisis grows. the dividend, in place since 1982, has been incredibly popular, but the double-hit of declining oil prices and declining oil production have created a fiscal crisis that has forced the state to look for new revenues. As Basic Income News has reported recently, both legislators and the Alaska public have shown an increased willingness to divert Permanent Fund earnings from the dividend to the state general budget.
As this year’s record-setting dividend checks of $2072 were being distributed, several editorials argued for reducing or eliminating the dividend and using that money to fill the state’s budget gap.
Craig Johnson, Chairman of the State House Rules Committee, recently spoke in defense of the fund, but went so far as to say only that touching the Permanent Fund should be a “last resort” that he does not support, “right now.”
Paul Jenkens, Tim Hale, and Mike Navarre have all written in favor of diverting funds from the dividend, and the Ketchikan Borough Assembly is considering a resolution urging the state to divert funds.
Some of the arguments are as simple as this statement from Tim Hale, “To me, it comes down to one thing: I’d rather lose my dividend than pay taxes.”
Hale’s attitude is very much the opposite to that of the founder of the dividend, the late Governor Jay Hammond, who believe that a dividend was far more important than a tax reduction. The dividend ensures that all Alaskans, rich and poor, share in the wealth of the state. Only people with substantial incomes benefit very much from lower taxes, and how much they benefit depends on the size of their income.
For more information, see the following articles:
Paul Jenkins, “Don’t tax Alaskans until state cuts to the bone and adopts endowment model for Permanent Fund.” Alaska Dispatch News, September 26, 2015
Tim Hale, “Use Permanent Fund earnings to pay for services – and cap dividend at zero.” Alaska Dispatch News, September 30, 2015
Mayor Mike Navarre, “Permanent Fund earnings can help keep state afloat. “ Fairbanks Daily Newsminer, September 27, 2015
Alaska Business News, “Johnson Touts Benefits of Dividends to Local Economy and Vows to Protect PFD.” Alaska Business News, October 2, 2015
Mary Kauffman, “Ketchikan Borough Assembly Considers Urging State to Include Permanent Fund in Fiscal Plan” Sitnews, October 03, 2015
