BIEN | Opinion
Opinion Posts
Here you will find articles expressing opinions about current issues in the Basic Income debate. Opinions expressed are not necessarily the opinions of BIEN.
Four-hundred and ninety-two pages of anthropology notes
At the links below, you can find 492 pages of notes, mostly in anthropology, some in history and other disciplines. I accumulated them in the process of researching two books (Prehistoric Myths in Modern Political Philosophy and the Prehistory of Private Property),...
Testimony of Kenya’s basic income beneficiaries
After the article “A Critical Poverty Eradication Experiment in Kenya”, published in the last issue of the BIEN News Flash, we now offer this complement with the interviews of the beneficiaries of the UBI in the rural villages of Kenya.
Creativity has nothing to do with money
When someone creates something, he or she does it out of a primal urge to give life to something new.
Can basic income ensure distributive justice in India?
UBI bypasses India’s weak system of existing welfare schemes which are riddled with misallocation, leakages, and exclusion of the poor.
Finnish basic income experiment reveals problems of conditional benefits
The benefit mimicking basic income did not have any positive employment effects when compared to the control group that remained in the current, conditional and punitive benefits system.
A Critical Poverty Eradication Experiment in Kenya
GiveDirectly formed a $30 million fund to benefit 20,000 Kenyans in the most important and thorough study about UBI in history
AOC buckled under pressure over basic income
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also known as AOC, is a fighter. Ever since she was elected to the United States (US) House of Representatives, she has been doing much “ass kicking”. She made clear that energy transition in America was imminently necessary, and made a few...
Combining UBI and a job offer scheme to end poverty
A public sector job offer at minimum wage, combined with UBI of could raise all households above poverty when combined with improved disability and housing benefits.
Video: English version of popular UBI video now available
A popular 5-minute introductory video on Basic Income, in English, is now online. The video was originally made in Spanish, produced by Atxe, a Spanish artist, as a project for Red Renta Basica, the Spanish affiliation of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), 2 years...
Voices on the basic income (II): Is it justified? [Política Entrevista Voces sobre la renta básica (II): ¿Está justificada?]
The website, Revista Libertalia, recently published an article in Spanish with extensive quotes from an interview conducted with me. The article is entitled, “Voces sobre la renta básica (II): ¿Está justificada? [Voices on basic income (II): Is it justified?].” It's...
Social Experiments 101: A Short Primer for UBI Observers
If we can’t answer some key questions, such as how to finance a UBI in a way that wouldn’t make currently low-income people worse off, we shouldn’t implement a UBI at all.
The Pursuit of Accord
The hardest thing for any society to do is to avoid oppressing its least advantaged people. Politics everywhere is an insider game: people with political, economic, and social advantages make policy for their own benefit not just neglecting outsiders, but oppressing...
BIEN Congresses
The 24th BIEN CONGRESS in Maricá & Niterói – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 27-29 August 2025
Linkedin, Instagram, X – biencongress25 (at) gmail [dot] com
BIEN2024 was August 29–31 (Pictures and more coming soon)