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.
Work, meaning, and the basic income
Less work would result in more social isolation, as well as less purpose and meaning in people’s lives. However, many people don’t work for social connections — they work for money. And they may be able to find more connections, meaning, and purpose spending less time at work.
Comments on Jacobin’s “The UBI Bait and Switch”
"The UBI Bait and Switch" by Bruenig, Jauhiainen, and Mäkinen: A Critical Response By Otto Lehto, political economist, King's College London; former chairman of BIEN Finland (2015-2016). A recent article in Jacobin Magazine on the Finnish UBI experiment is mostly an...
Funding basic income through data mining
Corporations are mining nearly every piece of online data that we as individuals produce and then selling it to the highest bidders. We as individuals should be compensated for our data in the same way that corporations are compensated for their data.
What Is Poverty, Exactly?
Basic Income, it is argued, provides an effective and efficient means of conquering poverty. What, exactly, is the problem that we are trying to solve?
Basic income could help resolve Hong Kong woes
Among the political turmoil experienced by Hong Kongers, there is another crisis that is eroding the societal foundations of the global financial hub: debilitating poverty.
BIEN affiliated organisations and their definitions of Basic Income
There has been much discussion, at congresses and elsewhere, as to what should be included in the definition of Basic Income. In order to inform the ongoing debate, I have studied the definitions to be found on the websites of organisations affiliated to BIEN.
Funding social security after automation
Because the distribution of purchasing power is essential to fuel our economic system, time has come to search for other sources of funding, other than “social security contributions” from labour.
Basic income’s mutually supportive cousin
Unlike typical basic income programs, this system is implemented at the local (e.g., community or city) level by non-governmental entities.
Interactive model shows basic income’s effect
This model will also tell you how the country would be affected overall. Each of the variables are listed and are changeable, which gives those interested the ability to measure results from all possible outcomes.
FILM REVIEW: ‘In the Same Boat’
Would it be possible to harness this digital revolution for the benefit of humans and the planet, to share prosperity? “In the Same Boat,” has opened up this interesting debate.
Book review: Basic Income as a Trojan horse?
For this group of authors, the concept of basic income is a part of neoliberal ideology.
Interview: Time for a digital basic income
While many basic income advocates concentrate on shifting government policy, some in the tech world are taking the fight into their own hands.
