by Stanislas Jourdan | Jan 22, 2017 | News
Vocal supporter of basic income, Benoit Hamon came out first in the first round of the socialist primary. He now stands a serious chance to become the Socialist candidate for the French presidential election.
Update 30/01/2017: As we predicted, Benoit Hamon has won the second round of the Socialist primary election. He will stand as presidential candidate for the elections.
The pro-basic income politician was designated as the winner of the first round of the French left-wing primary with 36% of the vote, ahead of the former Prime Minister Manuel Valls (31%) and Arnaud Montebourg (18%). Now he stands a big chance to become the socialist candidate in the presidential race.
Hamon immediately received the support of his fellow main competitor Montebourg for the second round of the election, which should secure his victory against the former Prime Minister Manuel Valls at the second round. The later is perceived as a pro-business and status quo candidate within the party and has lost a lot of momentum recently.
Sometimes described in the international media as the ‘French Jeremy Corbyn’, Hamon, 49 years old, was Education Minister and Minister for the Solidarity Economy under President François Hollande. He was pushed to resignation after a government reshuffle in August 2014.
Hamon’s victory comes as a big surprise as he was only polling around 11% in December. However his vibrant campaign received an increasing level of following until the finish line. In particular, Hamon made a great impression during the last TV debate, where he was designated as the best representative of the left’s values according to polls.
Hamon has developed a radically progressive platform including bold proposals such as basic income, working hours reduction, a tax on robots, a ‘popular referendum’ system similar to the one in Switzerland, the legalisation of cannabis and the recognition of blank votes (protest votes) in national elections.
However, basic income was by far the policy that has attracted the most attention – and critics. Over the past few weeks, virtually all media in France, from newspapers to TV stations, have extensively discussed the idea of the universal basic income.
Hamon proposes the gradual introduction of a basic income in France up to the level of 750 EUR. Under his plan, the first step would involve raising the level of the existing minimum income and extended it to people under 25 years old. In a second stage, a social and fiscal reform would lead to the full implementation of a basic income.
Many commentators and politicians said the policy is too expensive (around 300 billions euros), This misleading criticism showed the extent to which the mechanics of the basic income is not yet well understood.
The French movement for basic income (MFRB) rejoiced the outcome of the vote. “This is a big win, not just for Hamon but also for the idea of basic income. The result of the ballot is a proof that hundreds of thousands of people in France want basic income to be in the political agenda now. Hamon’s candidacy to the presidential election will ensure the continuity of the nationwide debate on this issue,” said MFRB spokesperson Nicole Teke.
The second round of the Socialist primary election will take place on January 29.
Credit picture CC Parti Socialiste
by Guest Contributor | Jan 19, 2017 | Opinion
Introduction
By Malcolm Torry, director of the UK’s Citizen’s Income Trust (CIT) and co-secretary of BIEN
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, and subsequently the BIEN news team has contacted affiliated organisations in order to check and if necessary amend the information.
We can conclude from the survey that all of the definitions of BI employed by BIEN affiliates describe it as unconditional, nonwithdrawable, individual, and a right of citizenship, although not necessarily in those precise words. They either say or assume that the payment will be regular and of a consistent amount, i.e., weekly or monthly, not annually, and not variable. Some state that the BI will be a right of citizenship, or of legal residence, and others might be taken to assume this.
But there are differences when it comes to the levels at which BI will be paid. In the table at the end of this article, if the definition given on the website does not mention the amount of the BI, then the second column in the table is empty. Where a definition on the website does mention the level of BI, only the relevant part or parts of the definition are quoted.
Conclusion:
Definitions of BI are quite diverse in relation to the amount to be paid.
- Some do not mention the issue, suggesting that the amount to be paid is not integral to the definition;
- Some say that a democratic process will be used to decide the amount;
- One mentions a particular amount (Southern Africa);
- And some offer a description of the kind of life that the BI will be expected to fund (‘subsistence’, ‘dignity’, ‘participation’, ‘poverty line’) in relation to the national context, but without specifying the relevant level of BI.
If BIEN is to be the global body to which national organisations will affiliate, then any definition that BIEN offers will need to include all of the national definitions. This means that it will mention unconditionality, non-withdrawability, and a BI’s individual basis; it might wish to say that BI would be a regular and invariable but uprate-able payment; and it might use ‘rights’ language (in relation to legal residence or citizenship).
In relation to the levels at which BIs should be paid, there are two options that would include all of the national definitions: a) the definition should not mention the amount at all; b) the definition should say that in each country the normal democratic process will determine the levels of BIs and their funding mechanisms.
Table: BIEN affiliated organisations’ statements about the BI levels included in their definitions of Basic Income
| EUROPE: Unconditional Basic Income Europe (UBI-Europe) |
‘UBI is universal, individual, unconditional, and high enough to ensure an existence in dignity and participation in society.’
https://basicincome-europe.org/ubie/unconditional-basic-income/ |
| SOUTHERN AFRICA: 1. Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute (SPII), and 2. UBI Africa |
1. ‘Amount: The grant should be no less than US$15.00 per person per month on introduction, [*which in 2013 was sufficient to meet peoples’ basic needs in the region], and should be inflation indexed.’ https://www.spii.org.za/index.php/sadc-big-principles/
2. ‘A wide variety of Basic Income proposals are circulating today. They differ along many other dimensions, including in the amounts of the Basic Income, the source of funding, the nature and size of reductions in other transfers that might accompany it, and so on.’ https://ubi-africa.blogspot.co.uk/ |
| ARGENTINA: Red Argentina de Ingreso Ciudadano |
|
| AUSTRALIA: Basic Income Guarantee Australia (BIGA) |
‘A Universal Basic Income (Basic Income Guarantee) is an unconditional cash payment to individuals sufficient to meet basic needs (Universal Basic Income New Zealand, 2003).’ https://www.basicincome.qut.edu.au/about-basic-income/frequently-asked-questions.jsp |
| AUSTRIA: Netzwerk Grundeinkommen und sozialer Zusammenhalt – B.I.E.N. Austria
|
‘Existenzsichernd: die zur Verfügung gestellte Summe soll ein bescheidenes, aber dem Standard der Gesellschaft entsprechendes Leben, die Teilhabe an allem, was in dieser Gesellschaft zu einem normalen Leben gehört, ermöglichen.’ https://www.grundeinkommen.at/index.php/grundeinkommen
[Ensuring existence: The sum made available is intended to make possible a life that is modest, but corresponding to the standards of society, and participation in everything that belongs to a normal life in this society.] |
| BELGIUM: Belgian Network for Basic Income
|
‘Ce revenu de base vise à permettre à chacun et chacune de mener une vie digne et de participer à la vie en société sous toutes ses formes.’ https://basicincome.be/fr/quest-ce-que-le-revenu-de-base/
[This basic income is intended to enable each and every individual to lead a dignified life and to participate fully in society.] |
| BRAZIL: Rede Brasileira de Renda Básica de Cidadania
|
‘A RBC é uma renda suficiente para que uma pessoa possa prover as suas necessidades vitais, como alimentação, saúde, educação e outras, que sera paga pelo governo a toda e qualquer pessoa residente no país, inclusive as estrangeiras residentes há cinco anos ou mais no Brasil, não importa sua origem, raça, sexo, idade, condição civil ou mesmo socioeconômica.’ https://eduardosuplicy.com.br/renda-basica-de-cidadania/
[The Basic Citizenship Income (CBR) is a sufficient income for a person to provide for his or her vital needs, such as food, health, education and other necessities, which will be paid by the government to all persons residing in the country, … regardless of their origin, race, gender, age, civil status or even socioeconomic status.] |
| CANADA: Basic Income Canada Network / Réseau canadien pour le revenu garanti |
‘A basic income guarantee (BIG) ensures everyone an income sufficient to meet basic needs and live with dignity, regardless of work status.’ https://www.basicincomecanada.org/ |
| CANADA: Quebec – Revenue de base Quebec (RBQ)
|
‘Le revenu de base est un revenu versé par une communauté politique à tous ses membres sur une base individuelle, sans condition ou contrepartie, dont le montant et le financement sont déterminés démocratiquement.
Un revenu de base garantit ainsi un niveau de vie décent à tous et il reste cumulable avec tout revenu perçu par ailleurs.’ https://revenudebase.quebec/
[A Basic income is an income paid by a political community to all of its members on an individual basis, without condition or withdrawal, of which the amount and the funding method are determined democratically.A basic income thus guarantees a decent standard of living for all and to it can be added income from other sources.] |
| CHINA: BIEN China
Affiliated in July 2016 |
Cheng Furui: 对基本收入定义，我们的网站和BIEN网站的一样。但是，关于我们所做的研究和推广，会更加注重社会分红，基于中国的实际情况。网站原文如下：“我们关注当前世界范围的“基本收入”运动，但基于中国公有资产占社会总资产的相当比例的国情，我们力促“社会分红/基本收入”的研究与教育活动。”
Regarding basic income, our website and BIEN is the same. But, regarding our research and what we promote, we emphasize the social dividend, considering China’s actual circumstances. The website originally states: “Our attention is on the modern global movement for the Basic Income, but considering the proportion of China’s publicly owned resources, we are pushing for a social dividend/basic income in our research and education activities.
[Translation: Tyler Prochazka] |
| DENMARK: BIEN Denmark (Borgerlønsbevægelsen)
|
‚Hvor stor skal basisindkomsten være? I princippet kan den have en hvilken som helst størrelse, som man i et samfund kan blive enige om, men den mest almindelige holdning er, at den skal være på et niveau, som gør det muligt at leve af den, om end på et beskedent niveau. Hvis man har en defineret fattigdomsgrænse i et samfund kan dette være et vejledende niveau for en basisindkomst. Basisindkomsten kan gradueres, så der er lavere satser for børn, for unge osv.‘ https://basisindkomst.dk/hvad-er-basisindkomst/
[How big should the basic income be? In principle, it can have any size, as agreed by a country, but the most common view is that it should be at a level that makes it possible to live on, albeit at a modest level. If you have a defined poverty line in a society then that can be a guide for the level of basic income. Basic Income can be of different amounts, so there would be lower rates for children, young people, etc.] |
| FINLAND: BIEN Finland – Suomen perustuloverkosto |
‘According to the model of BIEN Finland, basic income is paid monthly for every member of society with no strings attached. Basic income would simplify the complex jungle of the current social security system, would facilitate the reconciliation of work and social security, and fill the gaps in the social protection. Income increase by UBI for people with high and middle income would be reclaimed from their earned income taxes. For implementation of basic income, there are several different models.’ * [English translation provided by Jouko Hemmi] |
| FRANCE: Mouvement Français pour un revenu de base
|
‘Le revenu de base est un droit inaliénable, inconditionnel, cumulable avec d’autres revenus, distribué par une communauté politique à tous ses membres, de la naissance à la mort, sur base individuelle, sans contrôle des ressources ni exigence de contrepartie, dont le montant et le financement sont ajustés démocratiquement.’ https://www.revenudebase.info/mfrb/
[Basic income is an inalienable, unconditional right, cumulative with other income, distributed by a political community to all its members, from birth to death, on an individual basis, without control of resources or counterpart requirement, of which the amount and funding mechanism are adjusted democratically.] |
| GERMANY: Netzwerk Grundeinkommen |
‚Ein Grundeinkommen ist ein Einkommen, das eine politische Gemeinschaft bedingungslos jedem ihrer Mitglieder gewährt. Es soll die Existenz sichern und gesellschaftliche Teilhabe ermöglichen, …‘ https://www.grundeinkommen.de/die-idee
[A basic income is an income which a political community unconditionally grants to each of its members. It shouldensure subsistence and enable social participation …] |
| INDIA: India Network for Basic Income (INBI)
|
‘Basic Income is modest income paid by government unconditionally to all its citizens. It is paid monthly to every individual, irrespective of their social and economic status, i.e., without any means test or work requirement. The basic principle behind this idea is that every citizen is entitled to a basic income, as a matter of right, so as to meet her / his basic material requirements of life.’ https://basicincomeindia.weebly.com/ |
| IRELAND: Basic Income Ireland
|
‘A basic income is a payment from the state to every resident on an individual basis, without any means test or work requirement.
It would be sufficient to live a frugal but decent lifestyle without supplementary income from paid work.’ https://www.basicincomeireland.com/ |
| ITALY: Bin Italia (Basic Income Network Italy) |
[I can’t find a definition] |
| JAPAN: BIEN Japan
|
ベーシックインカムとは
ベーシックインカムとは、全ての人が、生活に足るだろう所得への権利を、無条件でもつ、という考え方です。
考え方としては２００年ほどの歴史があります。思想家、哲学者、経済学者たちが議論する一方、土地の共有化を求めたり、分権的な社会主義を求めたり、金融の民主化を求めたり、福祉から性差別をなくすことを求めたり、といった社会運動のなかでも要求されてきました。https://tyamamor.doshisha.ac.jp/bienj/bienj_top.html
Basic income is the idea that everyone has the unconditional right to an income to live on. |
| MEXICO: Red Mexicana Ingreso Ciudadano Universal |
[Website not available] |
| NETHERLANDS: Vereniging Basisinkomen
|
‚Het bedrag is hoog genoeg voor een menswaardig bestaan
Hoog genoeg : Het bedrag moet zorgen voor een fatsoenlijke levensstandaard, die aan de sociale en culturele normen voldoet in het betrokken land. Het moet materiële armoede te voorkomen en bieden de mogelijkheid om te participeren in de samenleving en in waardigheid te leven.‘ https://basisinkomen.nl/informatie/de-vier-criteria-voor-een-onvoorwaardelijk-basisinkomen/
[The amount is high enough for a decent life:High enough: The amount should provide a decent standard of living according to social and cultural norms prevailing in the country concerned in order to avoid material poverty and provide the opportunity to participate in society and live in dignity.]
Adriaan Planken, VBi secretaris a.i. adds: ‘UBI is universal, individual, unconditional, and high enough to ensure an existence in dignity and participation in society.’ |
| NEW ZEALAND: Basic Income New Zealand Incorporated (BINZ)
|
‘A basic income is an individual income paid to all legal residents as of right without means test or work requirement. … the government and the public together decide how much it will be. BINZ does not promote any particular solution. Additional funding can be nothing at all for an income-neutral basic income where each household receives the same total income after tax as it does now. It can be moderately redistributive like the examples shown in the handbook published on the BINZ website that substantially reduce poverty by redistributing about 2% of national income. Or it can be any other greater or lesser amount.’ https://www.basicincomenz.net/faq |
| NORWAY: Borgerlønn BIEN Norge
|
‚En universell, individuell og ubetinget inntekt som er høy nok til å gi hver og en av oss et verdig liv, uavhengig av arbeidsstatus.‘ https://www.borgerlonn.no/
[A universal, individual and unconditional income that is high enough to give each of us a dignified life, regardless of employment status.] |
| PORTUGAL: Rendimento Básico
|
‘O Rendimento Básico Incondicional é uma prestação atribuída a cada cidadão, independentemente da sua situação financeira, familiar ou profissional, e suficiente para permitir uma vida com dignidade.
Um RBI é:
– Universal – não discrimina ninguém, todos o recebem
– Incondicional – um direito para todos, sem burocracias
– Individual – garante autonomia às pessoas em situação vulnerável
– Suficiente – para viver com dignidade’ https://www.rendimentobasico.pt/
[Unconditional Basic Income is a benefit attributed to each citizen, regardless of their financial situation, family or professional, and sufficient to allow a life with dignity.An RBI is:
– Universal – does not discriminate against anyone, everyone
– Unconditional – a right for all without bureaucracies
– Individual – guarantees autonomy for people in vulnerable situation
– Enough – to live with dignity] |
| SCOTLAND: Citizen’s Basic Income Network Scotland |
‘A basic income is a fixed amount of money paid to citizens which never decreases or disappears no matter the circumstances of that citizen. For example, unemployed, low wage, and rich people of the same age-bracket (i.e. not a child or a pensioner) would all receive the same basic level of state support. Children, adults, and pensioners would be provided with different levels of basic income. The objective of a basic income is to alleviate poverty caused by low wages and the benefits trap.’ https://cbin.scot/what-is-a-basic-income/ |
| SLOVENIA: Sekcija za promocijo UTD v Sloveniji |
[I couldn’t find a definition] |
| SOUTH KOREA: Basic Income Korean Network (BIKN)
|
따라서 기본소득은 보편적 복지이자 그 이상입니다. 모든 구성원의 적절한 삶을 보장한다는 점에서 보편적 복지이고, 단순한 재분배정책이 아니라 사회적 생태적 전환의 기초가 된다는 점에서 이행전략입니다. 기본소득은 정의상으로는 매우 단순하지만 필요성, 정당성, 지향성의 측면에서는 복합적이고 심층적입니다. www.basicincomekorea.org/all-about-bi_definition/
Therefore, basic income is more than universal welfare. It is a universal welfare in that it guarantees the proper life of all members, and is a transition strategy in that it is the basis of social ecological transformation, not a simple redistribution policy. Basic income is by definition fairly simple, but complex and deep in terms of necessity, legitimacy, and direction. |
| SPAIN: Red Renta Basica
|
‘La renta básica puede ser definida de distintas formas. En la web la Red Renta Básica ha utilizado esta definición: la renta básica es un ingreso pagado por el estado, como derecho de ciudadanía, a cada miembro de pleno derecho o residente de la sociedad incluso si no quiere trabajar de forma remunerada, sin tomar en consideración si es rico o pobre o, dicho de otra forma, independientemente de cuáles puedan ser las otras posibles fuentes de renta, y sin importar con quien conviva. En menos palabras: una renta básica es una asignación monetaria pública incondicional a toda la población.’ https://www.redrentabasica.org/rb/que-es-la-rb/
[Basic income can be defined in different ways. On the web the Basic Income Network has used this definition: basic income is an income paid by the state, as a right of citizenship, to each full member or resident of the society even if they do not want to work in a paid way, without taking In consideration whether he is rich or poor or, in other words, regardless of what the other possible sources of income may be, and regardless of who he lives with. In less words: a basic income is an unconditional public monetary allocation to the entire population.] |
| SWITZERLAND: BIEN Switzerland |
‘The unconditional basic income (UBI) is a monthly payment by a public agency, to each individual, of a sum of money high enough to cover basic needs and enable participation in social life, as a monthly, lifelong rent. It is the concretization of a basic human right.’ https://bien.ch/en/story/basic-income/what-unconditionnal-basic-income |
| TAIWAN: Global Basic Income Social Welfare Promotion Association in Taiwan |
|
| UNITED KINGDOM: Citizen’s Income Trust
|
‘A Citizen’s Income is
‘Unconditional’: A Citizen’s Income would vary with age, but there would be no other conditions: so everyone of the same age would receive the same Citizen’s Income, whatever their gender, employment status, family structure, contribution to society, housing costs, or anything else.
‘Automatic’: Someone’s Citizen’s Income would be paid weekly or monthly, automatically.
‘Nonwithdrawable’: Citizen’s Incomes would not be means-tested. If someone’s earnings or wealth increased, then their Citizen’s Income would not change.
‘Individual’: Citizen’s Incomes would be paid on an individual basis, and not on the basis of a couple or household.
‘As a right of citizenship’: Everybody legally resident in the UK would receive a Citizen’s Income, subject to a minimum period of legal residency in the UK, and continuing residency for most of the year.’ https://citizensincome.org/faqs/ |
| UNITED STATES: U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network (USBIG)
|
‘The Basic Income gives every citizen a check for the full basic income every month, and taxes his or her earned income, so that nearly everyone both pays taxes and receives a basic income. … A partial basic income guarantee is any income guarantee set at a level that is less than enough to meet a person’s basic needs.’ https://www.usbig.net/whatisbig.php |
[* added following circulation of the original summary to affiliated organisations]
by Kate McFarland | Dec 31, 2016 | Opinion, Testimonies
This year, BIEN celebrated the 30th anniversary of its birth. In commemoration of the occasion, founding members reunited at its birthplace–the Université Catholique de Louvain in Louvain-la-Neuve, Beglium–for a series of talks on the past and future of BIEN and the basic income movement.
At the end of the year, all Life Members of BIEN were invited to reflect on their own personal histories with the organization and movement. Read their stories here:
• Hyosang Ahn (Director of Basic Income Korea Network; South Korea): “The first time I encountered the idea of basic income was the summer of 2007. I was at the time the vice president of a small party on the left, rather imaginatively named the ‘Socialist Party’, and was preparing for the coming presidential election…”
• Jan Otto Andersson (Life Member; Finland): “… In 1986 I took part in the international congress on Basic Income in Louvain-la-Neuve. My contribution was called “Basic Income in Three Social Visions”: a Red-Blue mixed society, a Blue-Green dual society and a Red-Green combined society. …”
• Christopher Balfour (Life Member; UK): “… Having been adopted as a Conservative Parliamentary Candidate in the mid-1960s…, I began to talk with already-elected Members of Parliament who shared my concerns. In this way I met Brandon Rhys Williams and then his mother, Dame Juliet. They introduced me to this concept of a small payment as of right, no strings attached, to all citizens. …”
• Richard Caputo (Life Member; US): “… I was not taken in by the idea of an unconditional basic income (UBI) guarantee whole cloth. It did not square well with my sense of social justice, nor with my concerns about poverty reduction, though it did address what I saw as the diminished value of wage-based labor in an increasingly global economy and seemed compatible with the social work value of self-determination. …”
• André Coehlo (News Editor-in-Chief; Portugal): “For me to contribute to BIEN…was kind of a natural progression in my personal activism, after the Zeitgeist Movement. I naturally accepted the basic income concept, after defending a resource based economy, as the former can be seen as an intermediate step towards the latter. …”
• Louise Haagh (Co-Chair of BIEN): “I first came across basic income in summer of 2001 when instructed about it by Workers’ Party Senator Eduardo Suplicy, at his home in São Paulo. I was doing research on workers’ rights, at the same time undertaking a survey of economic security among residents in poor and middle-income district …”
• Michael Howard (Coordinator of USBIG Network; US): “I can remember the moment when I first took a keen interest in basic income. I was familiar with the idea, having spent a research leave at the European University Institute in Fiesole, when Philippe Van Parijs was there writing Real Freedom for All. …”
• Julio Linares (“Life Member 252”; Guatemala): “I first heard about BIEN at a conference in Switzerland about the future of work and basic income. I went to that conference because of a hunch. …”
• José A. Noguera (International Advisory Board of BIEN; Spain): “I still remember quite clearly the first time I read something about the idea of a Basic Income: it was back in 1991, when I was finishing my degree in Sociology in Barcelona, and spent most of my time reading abstruse texts of social theory. …”
• Steven Shafarman (Coordinating Committee of USBIG; US): “My drive to enact a basic income – and most of my ideas about how to attract, educate, organize, and mobilize allies – arose from exploring the way young children learn to walk and talk. …”
• Malcolm Torry (Director of Citizen’s Income Trust, Co-Secretary of BIEN; UK): “Almost exactly forty years ago, I left university, got married, and started work in Brixton, in South London, administering means-tested benefits. … [I]t didn’t take long to understand how inefficient, degrading, and disincentivising means-tested benefits were. …”
• Jenna van Draanen (Outreach Coordinator and News Editor; Canada): “Working with BIEN has been a wonderful experience for me. Not only are there extremely dedicated people here, but they are also talented and kind. …”
• Philippe van Parijs (Co-Founder of BIEN; Belgium): “It is hard for young people today to imagine what it meant to run an international network when all communication between its members had to happen through the post. The newsletter needed to be typed, then printed, then photocopied, then stapled. …”
• Martine Mary Waltho (Life Member; UK): “I first came across the idea of a basic income when I was at university in 1984. There was an article in a magazine; it might have been the New Society. …”
• Karl Widerquist (Co-Chair of BIEN; US): “When I first attended a BIEN Congress in 1998, I’d already been a Basic Income supporter for 18 years, but it was exhilarating for me just to find out that there were enough dedicated Basic Income supporters to fill an auditorium. …”
• Toru Yamamori (News Editor; Japan): “My encounter to the idea of a basic income was around 1991-2. I was involved in solidarity activism with a casual worker’s trade union, in which many of the members were homeless construction workers. …”
Photo: Participants at BIEN’s 2016 Congress in Seoul (bien2016.org/en).
by BIEN | Dec 31, 2016 | Bios & background Info, Opinion, Testimonies
Julio Linares – “My Short Journey in BIEN”
I first heard about BIEN at a conference in Switzerland about the future of work and basic income. I went to that conference because of a hunch. I had finished reading Karl Polanyi’s The Great Transformation and was in the midst of a brainstorm, thinking about how to change the system we find ourselves in. It came to me that if in the past humans commodified fictitious commodities (Land, Labor and Money), then we can also decommodify at least one of them. The question was how. When the basic income idea came to my head, I thought I had discovered the wheel.
I couldn’t sleep. I felt like I needed to tell somebody. My wife didn’t quite get my crazy mumbling at 2 A.M. and told me to go to sleep. I quickly found that others had already thought of this long before me and had developed the idea further. I couldn’t be happier. I checked social media the next day and found out about the Swiss referendum and the event that was happening before it, gathering academics, entrepreneurs and others interested in basic income. Not looking back, I bought the cheapest ticket I could find and went.
At the conference I had the opportunity of meeting Guy Standing and many other inspiring people involved in the network. I knew I had made the right choice in going. I met young scholars there, who told me about the congress happening in Korea in July 2016. Originally from Guatemala, I had been living in Taiwan for 5 years. Living so close to Korea, I thought I should go as well. Applications were long past the deadline but I still sent an email asking if I could present a paper. When I got accepted I went without glimpse of doubt, this time accompanied by my wife. She and I met in Taiwan while having a full scholarship so we can empirically attest to the transformative benefits of a basic income.
My paper was about alternative ways of funding a basic income. Specifically, I thought of creating financial funds that could make a basic income scheme sustainable in the long run. In this way, I theorized, it could be possible not only to provide a basic income to people but at the same time start changing the greedy ways that finance is used in our time. I received a lot of constructive feedback from the people who attended the talk and learned a lot from the experience.
At the BIEN congress I met Anja and other life members of the BIEN network. Inspired by their clarity of vision and positive attitude I decided to join on the spot. I am proud member number 252. Right now I find myself in the process of setting up a network in Guatemala, looking for funding in order to do a pilot project. So far we have contacted one of the municipal mayors of Guatemala. He and his team were very interested in the idea and have agreed to cooperate with us.
Although I just joined the network, I hope to help as much as I can in spreading the word about the importance of basic income and getting other people involved in my own country. I believe basic income can help in reducing poverty and increasing the livelihood of people in Guatemala and the rest of the world. The movement is only beginning!
Photo: Participants at 2016 BIEN Congress in Seoul, South Korea.
At the end of 2016, the year in which BIEN celebrated the 30th anniversary of its birth, all Life Members were invited to reflect on their own personal journeys with the organization. See other contributions to the feature edition here.
by BIEN | Dec 31, 2016 | Bios & background Info, Opinion, Testimonies
“Toward Basic Income and a Peaceful Democratic Revolution”
By Steven Shafarman
My drive to enact a basic income – and most of my ideas about how to attract, educate, organize, and mobilize allies – arose from exploring the way young children learn to walk and talk.
I first wrote about these ideas, though without the term basic income, in the mid 1980s, inspired by the analogy of “the body politic” and Abraham Maslow’s “hierarchy of needs.” Young children, as they learn to walk, outgrow crawling and leave it behind. Their basic needs are provided by parents or other adults. Thus, when everyone’s basic economic security is guaranteed, I believe our society can “outgrow” pollution, racism, war, and other problems.
In 1998, while enrolled in a doctoral program in system science and human development, I self-published a book about how to heal our political system. With that book, I was hooked. I moved to Washington D.C. in the fall of 1999, seeking support for these ideas. I heard about USBIG in 2000, went up to New York for one of the earliest meetings, and presented at the first conference in March of 2002. That’s when I learned about BIEN, and decided to attend the Congress in Geneva. My paper, on how to build a mass movement, was selected and published.
Over the following years, I presented at most USBIG meetings; wrote three more books; started an author mailing list to update my readers; self-published or with micro publishers; gave talks at BIEN meetings in Dublin in 2008 and Montreal in 2014; worked with the Green Party of the U.S., adding basic income to their platform; and made several attempts to launch nonprofit organizations to support our efforts. Yet I was always thinking about young children, and how they learn naturally, spontaneously. My primary profession is teaching people, all ages and any health condition, to breathe freely and move easily, to outgrow back pain, breathing troubles, stress-related disorders, and other difficulties.
While promoting basic income, I’ve been actively thinking of myself as a healthy curious young child, pursuing my dreams, goals, and interests. At the same time, though, I’ve been anxiously wishing I had a basic income; regardless of the amount, that would have been immensely valuable.
The “Tax Cut for the Rest of Us Act of 2006,” H.R. 5257, would have created a small basic income through a fully refundable tax credit. It was introduced in the U.S. Congress, though never debated. Al Sheahen and Karl Widerquist wrote the initial paper, with a title I suggested, and Al and I arranged a series of meetings to lobby for it. After lunch in the basement cafeteria of a House office building, on our way to a meeting on the third floor, we were in an elevator with a dozen congressional staffers. I used that moment to say, loudly, “The reason I’m lobbying for basic income, Al, is that I want to live in a true democracy, without leaving the country.” Several staffers laughed. One said, “Good luck.”
Living in Washington D.C., I’ve had many conversations with people who work at political think tanks, lobbying shops, and similar organizations. Everyone has a specific issue, project, or other focus, and limited interest in new ideas. Liberal Democrats typically respond with a variation of “I love that idea, but … ,” and then explain why it’s politically impossible. Conservative Republicans tend to instantly state a moral or emotional objection; when we have time to discuss it in detail, however, they often agree that it makes sense.
Before autumn 2013, most people had never heard of basic income, although a few recalled ideas from the 1960s and ’70s about guaranteed income, negative income tax, or Richard Nixon’s Family Assistance Plan. That October, our friends in Switzerland filed for their referendum and held their event with the coins, and their campaign was widely reported in the U.S. media. I saw a huge breakthrough. My conversations became far more congenial and productive.
Over the past few years, I’ve been writing a book that, I expect, will attract, excite, and unite people from across the political spectrum and outside it. My title is “Basic Income Imperative: for peace, justice, liberty, and personal dignity.” It’s nearly finished. I have queries out to a number of literary agents, and hope to have a publisher soon.
I now believe – more than believe, actually, I’m confident – that within the next few years we can have a peaceful democratic revolution for basic income. Let’s make history and make it happen.
Steven Shafarman is a co-founder of Basic Income Action, and the author of four books about basic income, with another forthcoming. He also teaches FlexAware and the Feldenkrais Method. He lives in Washington, D.C.
At the end of 2016, the year in which BIEN celebrated the 30th anniversary of its birth, all Life Members were invited to reflect on their own personal journeys with the organization. See other contributions to the feature edition here.
