by Karl Widerquist | Apr 18, 2013 | Research
Philippe Van Parijs
“Rediscovering The Utopian In Europe: An Interview With Philippe Van Parijs,” Global: The Global Journal. March 26, 2013
According to the author, “Philippe Van Parijs is a central figure in the worlds of philosophy and politics alike. Described by Amartya Sen as ‘one of the most original and creative thinkers of our time,’ he is famous for his defense of a Universal Basic Income – an unconditional monthly grant allocated to all – as the best expression of social justice and freedom. Building on the thought-provoking exchange between Francis Fukuyama and Jürgen Habermas published in May, this special extended interview challenges us to imagine a fairer future for the European project.”
https://theglobaljournal.net/article/view/1038/
by Karl Widerquist | Apr 16, 2013 | Research
Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party in Canada and an MP in British Columbia recently endorsed basic income. The endorsement of a “Guaranteed Livable Income” came through a press release on October 17, the United Nations (UN) International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. May’s press release reminds her audience that the Green Party is the only political party in Canada to advocate for a basic income as a means to eradicate poverty. The endorsement occurring on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is an apt response to the UN resolution for all member states to create and implement concrete strategies to eliminate poverty.
More about her remarks can be found online at: https://www.canadianprogressiveworld.com/2012/10/18/elizabeth-may-calls-for-a-guaranteed-livable-income-in-canada/
by Karl Widerquist | Apr 12, 2013 | Research
Stephen Fortunato
Stephen Fortunato, “The Imperative of an International Guaranteed Income.” The Monthly Review Volume 58, Issue 11 (April 2007)
Published back in April of 2007, this article begins with “super-capitalist” Warren Buffett’s “trenchant understatement: ‘A market system has not worked well in terms of poor people.’” It argues from there for the necessity of an international basic income guarantee.
The author, Stephen J. Fortunato Jr., was a trial judge on the Rhode Island Superior Court for thirteen years after serving as a civil rights lawyer for more than two decades. He has been a Zen practitioner for at least forty years. His essays and reviews have appeared in the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, the Howard Law Journal, In These Times, and other publications.
The article is online at: https://monthlyreview.org/2007/04/01/the-imperative-of-an-international-guaranteed-income
by Karl Widerquist | Apr 6, 2013 | Research
[USBIG – April 2013]
Stephen Fortunato, “The Fraud of Jobs,” Buddhist Peace Fellowship. February 25, 2013
This article exposes what the author sees as the widely held misconception that the creation of jobs is the motivating objective behind most U.S. economic policy. It argues that we need to shift from the focus on job creation to the focus on meeting people’s needs through a basic income guarantee. The article concludes, “the prevailing ludicrous insistence that people obtain jobs that do not exist — or which are being phased out into oblivion — is a cruel fabrication that will result in nothing but the continued dystopian consequences of poverty, marginalization, and oppression.”
The Author, Stephen Fortunato was a trial judge on the Rhode Island Superior Court for thirteen years after serving as a civil rights lawyer for more than two decades. He has been a Zen practitioner for at least forty years.
The article is online at:
https://www.buddhistpeacefellowship.org/job-creationism/
by Yannick Vanderborght | Apr 5, 2013 | Research
Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian
Monbiot, George. “Communism, welfare state – what’s the next big idea?”
The Guardian, Monday 1 April 2013
[BIEN – April 2013]
This opinion piece in one of Britain’s leading newspapers, begins, “Most of the world’s people are decent, honest and kind. Most of those who dominate us are inveterate bastards. It decries most recent British policy toward the poor as punitive, “brutal,” and “antisocial.” Looking for new solutions it considers both a land tax and basic income. According to Monboit, basic income “banishes the fear and insecurity now stalking the poorer half of the population. Economic survival becomes a right, not a privilege. … The poor are not forced by desperation into the arms of unscrupulous employers: people will work if conditions are good and pay fair, but will refuse to be treated like mules. It redresses the wild imbalance in bargaining power that the current system exacerbates. It could do more than any other measure to dislodge the emotional legacy of serfdom.”
The article is online at: https://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/01/alternative-to-war-on-britains-poor
by Sandro Gobetti | Apr 3, 2013 | Research
[Sabrina Del Pico – BIN Italia – March 2013]
This article argues that a universal livable income represents a wise investment for the future rather than an unsustainable cost. Using a metaphor about roof construction, the author compares and contrasts the long-term benefits of a universal income with the detriments to society at large caused by failing to introduce such a measure. The author, in fact, highlights how society would benefit from it both at socio-economic and health level.
C.A., L’Hirondelle, “The High Costs of a Leaky Roof Society” Livable 4 All, February 26th, 2013: https://www.livableincome.org/agliroof.htm
