Below you will find links to folders of photographs I took at the 2024 BIEN Congress held at the University of Bath on August 29-31. Not all sessions are covered.
2024-08-29 BIEN Congress Day 1
2024-08-29 BIEN Congress Day 2
2024-08-29 BIEN Congress Day 3
Click on the links to view and download the photos that are all in .jpg format and under 10 MB in size.
Below you will find the full text of Eduardo Matarazzo Suplicy’s planned address at the closing ceremony of 2024 BIEN Congress at the University of Bath, UK, on August 31, 2024. He was conscious that he had to respect the ten-minute time limit set by the organization of the Congress for his oral exposition, but for the record he considered that it would important to provide a fuller account of the long journey toward making UBI a reality in Brazil, where the 2025 Congress will be held.
To read the full text, click here.
To view and download 49 Photos, click here.
On 8 August 2024, the Basic Income Earth Network submitted input for the United Nations
Secretary-General’s report on the 2025 Review of the Peacebuilding Architecture, upon
invitation of the United Nations (UN) Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO). This proposal
was endorsed by over 125 affiliates and partner organisations from 46 countries who joined
their organisational commitment behind BIEN’s call for the consideration of basic income as
a peacebuilding instrument.
To read the full press release, click here.
The recent riots in English urban areas and in Northern Ireland were precipitated by racism,
extremist nationalism and religious bigotry. That’s what everybody sees, and everyone is
responding to. However, the unseen underlying cause of such attitudes and behaviour is
chronic economic insecurity, just as lurches to the far right in other countries have been due
to economic insecurity and the growth of the new mass class, the precariat, whose lives are
mired in insecurity, instability, precarity and debt. When people are insecure, it’s easy to
induce them to believe the lie that other vulnerable groups are to blame for their precarity.
To read the full release, click here.
We have fantastic news to share: Oregon Rebate has qualified for the November 2024 ballot as Measure 118!
Measure 118 will increase the minimum corporate tax rate after $25 million of in-state revenue by 3%. The proposed increase will raise at least $6 billion annually, which will generate $1,600 rebates for all 4.2 million Oregonians each year once fully implemented in 2027, according to estimates from the Legislative Revenue Office’s report.
$1,600 per year for a four-person household is $6,400 a year! Lump-sum payments like this can be enough to break debt trap cycles that keep Oregonians in poverty. The measure is projected to decrease the overall poverty rate in Oregon by 36% and childhood poverty by 53%. Together, we can make this possible by demanding that corporations finally pay their fair share.
Currently, the largest and most profitable corporations manage to pay minimal to no income taxes through various distortion tactics, using tax credits and incentives, or structuring maneuvers that minimize tax liabilities. Recent reports revealed that 34% of the largest corporations do not pay a single dollar in federal income tax. And despite reporting profits, seventeen major corporations, like Tesla and T-Mobile, not only paid no federal income tax over five years but received refunds. These same corporations paid their top executives a cumulative $5.3 billion over the same period in which they paid zero dollars to support essential public services or local aid.
If corporations can afford to rebate themselves, they can afford to rebate Oregonians.
Corporations like Comcast and their special interest supporters often use scare tactics like the threat of price increases when fairer corporate tax increases are on the ballot. But this is a distraction from their record-breaking profits. Corporate profits in 2023 were 54% higher than in 2019, largely due to inflation. A recent report indicates that 53 cents out of every dollar of inflationary price increases were due to corporate profits during the second and third quarters of 2023. Since the start of the pandemic, corporate greed accounted for nearly one-third of all inflation.
Establishment politicians in Oregon, including Gov. Tina Kotek and leaders in the state legislature, have joined with Koch Industries and special interest groups like the Western States Petroleum Association to oppose Measure 118. However, the Oregon Rebate team has seen a groundswell of support from everyday Oregonians and submitted over 170,000 signatures to gain ballot access.
It is the will of the people of Oregon who will decide the fate of Measure 118, not politicians who these very corporations often bankroll. We aren’t seeking the support of politicians because we don’t need it – the power is with us.
My ask is that you consider making a donation to our campaign. We’re in a great spot, but we need your support now more than ever. Thank you for considering.
In solidarity,
Antonio Gisbert
Chief Petitioner
OregonRebate.org