by Jason Burke Murphy | Feb 3, 2017 | Opinion
Basic Income as All-inclusive Democratic Subsidy: Securing the Social Freedom and Economic Power for All People
Written by: Katja Kipping
[A long translator’s note: Katja Kipping is chair of the Left Party (Linkspartei) in Germany and a member of the national parliament. She has served as spokesperson for Germany’s Basic Income Network (Netzwerk Grundeinkommen). Within the Left Party, she organized the “Emancipatory Left” faction and writes for the libertarian socialist magazine “Prague Spring” (Prager Frühling).
Kipping presented this lecture “Grundeinkommen als Demokratiepauschale” at the Basic Income Earth Network Congress in Seoul, Korea, July 19th. She has frequently argued for basic income throughout Germany and has helped organize a “Basic Income faction” that includes most political parties in parliament.
I have translated this with the hope that left organizations worldwide will pay attention to her vision of basic income as a core component for the democratic left. Basic income would provide a clear sign that the left has learned from problems wrought in the past by bureaucracy, technocracy, and authoritarianism. Kipping draws from a constitutional republican tradition of investigating institutions that promote robust citizenship and deliberation. See Casassas and De Wispelaere 2012 and 2015. She also links her hopes with that of the degrowth movement. I see basic income, as Kipping presents it here, as an antidote to alienation and right-populism. Social analysis shows basic income to be part of the design of truly public institutions.
Any lapses in quality or argumentation should be attributed to me.
Please note that Kipping also presented in Dublin at the 12th Basic Income Earth Network Congress in 2008. “Moving to Basic Income (BI) – A left-wing political perspective” can be found at BIEN’s website.
You can a video of Kipping presenting the original German speech at https://bien2016.org/en/video-basic-income-and-politics-of-democracy/.
The text of her speech can be found at: https://www.katja-kipping.de/de/article/1112.grundeinkommen-als-demokratiepauschale.html. ]
Basic Income as All-inclusive Democratic Subsidy
Securing the Social Freedom and Economic Power for All People
Contents
- Social Freedom and Democracy – radical democratic approaches to basic income.
- Economic Might for All – basic Income and democratic institutions
- Closing Remarks on social transformation
1. Social Freedom and Democracy – radical democratic approaches to basic income.
Radical democratic approaches to basic income pay close attention to the connections between people and to their mutual dependencies within a community. The community is here understood as something public and political. It is oriented towards the well-being of all and should be shaped by all. From this it follows that freedom should not be understood as a mere absence of intervention or interference. On the contrary, freedom should be understand as independence over against any arbitrary authority [Fremdherrschaft]. Freedom, in this sense, implies no arbitrary interventions or interference on the part of state institutions and also no possibility of such interventions and interference. Intervention is arbitrary if an intervention comes whenever the intervener wills it.
Freedom, on the other hand, is fulfilled primarily through self-governance. Self-governance is formed by social and individual organization and also by monitoring these potential interventions and the institutions capable of them. Individual freedom, viewed in such an intersubjective political context, is also social freedom. The highest value is active participation of all in the res publica – a collective deliberative democratic self-determination. This naturally implies social equality and the securing of social freedom, which implies preventing any economically grounded dominance and dependency. Laws and institutions also need to reflect, promote, and enable the common good and self-governance. (See Socialist Party South Korea 2009, Patry 2010, Cassasas/De Wispelaere 2012, Cassasas/De Wispelaere 2015).
The following six theses on the establishment of a basic income as an all-inclusive democratic subsidy can be derived from these basic principles of radical democracy and social freedom.
- Basic Income must secure what a political community requires from each citizen in terms of money. This includes securing existence, social participation, and participation in political life. This unconditional guarantee of existence and participation has a monetary component. Non-monetary components also exist, such as free access to public goods, and to public infrastructure and services. These monetary and non-monetary components do not exclude each other but rather they complete one another. Both these monetary and non-monetary forms should, first, provide people socio-economic independence and, second, preserve their status as citizens with economic negotiating power whereby they can participate in the formation of society. Without the adequate safeguarding of free and equal conditions of social participation, no democratic participation is possible – formal possibilities for participation are not enough.
Whoever does not have enough material resources is first of all excluded from political participation and, secondly, doesn’t have enough negotiating power within political processes. This means that basic income, like all vital services, needs to be provided long-term. As I see it, this is not a problem in a time of high productivity and surplus. At most, it is a problem for those who do not want to give up economic privileges and political power. There is enough for all—worldwide!
- From a radical-democratic perspective, the basic income on a regular basis is preferable to single disbursements, like with a stakeholder grant or starting capital. Only regular payments can guarantee a lifelong income and its corresponding participation.
- The right to an unconditional basic income must be combined with a modern understanding of citizenship. A distinction between a majority of citizens and a minority of immigrants with regard to elementary socioeconomic rights and opportunities would lead to a problematic division of the community and a majority’s dominance over a minority.
- From a radical democratic viewpoint, people receive the unconditional basic income as equal members of the political community, not as part of a needy group that depends on the state. Any particular stigmatization of population groups splits the community and is a source for domination. That would still be true with a partial basic income (or transfers that do not secure survival or make social participation possible) that is supplemented by need-tested, income-tested, or asset-tested social benefits in order to reach a sufficient level.
It is clear that a person, who must make him or herself a stigmatized petitioner at the social office has a significantly harder time taking an upright path towards the political formation of the community. As Zygmunt Bauman formulated it: “The decisive argument in favor of the basic income is that it is the conditio sine qua non of a republic, as it can only exist in the union of people with self-confidence, of people without existential anxiety. A basic income which actually secures existence and allows social participation would establish a principle of citizens’ rights, rights that are not subject to a divisive and disqualifying ‘access test’ by need tests.” (Bauman 1999). [Note: this is a translation of the Bauman quote as found in Kipping’s speech. –JBM]
Therefore 5 holds: All citizens only have their rights fully recognized reciprocally through a sufficient basic income. This also means that more affluent citizens are comparatively more likely to contribute to the financing of the basic income than the less well-off citizens. This poses the question of the redistribution of economic resources and economic power.
- Basic income is not tied to any condition. An obligation towards any social or political participation would be sources of new domination. These would enable arbitrary interventions. The question of what makes something socially recognizable, and what does not, opens up a considerable amount of bureaucratic discretion. A citizen’s right to a basic income that included a direct citizen obligation would also transform voluntary engagement into regulated compulsory participation.
I would like to end this section with a quote from a German supporter of basic income who is also a politician. “It is farcical that MEPs [Members of the European Parliament] claim to maintain their substantial independence through relatively high salaries in order to make themselves non-extortionable but most of these deputies do not consider it necessary to ensure such independence and non-blackmail for the sovereign, the people” (Spehr 2003, 105). Basic income’s individual guarantee of a secure existence and participation is, alongside other forms of universal security for people (such as free access to public goods, social infrastructure, and social services), an indispensable prerequisite for social freedom, democratic and political engagement and the negotiating power for all people. It is an all-inclusive democratic subsidy!
2. Economic power for all – basic income and democratic institutions
Whoever says A must also say B. Who calls for basic income so that people can enter the public sphere with negotiating power must also call for the public shaping of our political foundations, economy, and everyday life (see Casassas and De Wispelaere 2012 and 2015). We need this to secure a basic income and other sorts of public services. Arbitrary interferences in human affairs through economic power, by endangering survival, health, and natural resources is not acceptable. An economy that is deprived of public organization, an economy that is privatized, is unacceptable. That also means that an economy and a financial sector that is immune to democratic control and influence is likewise unacceptable.
An imbalance in power through the deprivation of the public (privatization) in one form or another reaches deeply into real political and social power relations and removes the political and therefore citizens from the formation and control of public affairs. On the one hand, this includes power that arises from economic distribution—income, assets, and investment opportunities. This certainly also includes power in the realm of shaping and administering the economy and the financial sector. Who actually determines the use of natural resources, production resources, investment and the way in which economic activities are taxed? Who is exercising an alienated domination over the people today with real, unequally distributed, forms of design and control, and who subjects society and the economy to the will of a minority?
In addition to basic income and other forms of life and of participation for all people, social freedom requires the self-government of the citizens: by means of joint and individual control and appropriate intervention possibilities, which are secured by appropriately democratic institutions. These institutions must give all people the opportunity to shape social and economic life individually and collectively (see Cassasas / De Wispelaere 2015).
Economic power for all means basic income, including other unconditional support for existence. It also means the safeguarding of the economy and society for all and the institutionally secured public and political shaping of the economy and the society by all. This makes a democratic social transformation all the more necessary and urgent. Tomorrow, I am speaking at another conference about the challenge that this entails for the European left.
3. Concluding Remarks on Socio-Ecological Transformation
Poverty and exclusion, power over the many by the few, and destruction of the natural foundations of human life – that is the situation.
The international degrowth movement, which is committed to a world with significantly less natural resource consumption and to a rollback of ecological destruction and damage to our planet, therefore argues for the cohesion of ecology, democracy and social security of all people, and thus for the convergence of the various social movements and political actors (see Blaschke 2016).
It seems to me that only with this complex point of view and a committed relationship between social movements can the challenges of the 21st century be countered. Basic income, which in fact assures material existence and enables social participation, is an important component of a social-ecological transformation, which seeks to also be a democratic transformation!
Literature:
Bauman, Zygmunt (1999), In Search of Politics. Cambridge. Polity Press.
Blaschke, Ronald (2016), Grundeinkommen und Degrowth – Wie passt das zusammen? https://www.degrowth.de/de/2016/02/grundeinkommen-und-degrowth-wie-passt-das-zusammen/
Casassas, David / De Wispelaere, Jurgen (2012), The Alaska Model: A Republican Perspective. In: Karl Widerquist / Michael W. Howard (Ed.): Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend. Examining his Suitability as a Model, New York, 169-188.
Casassas, David / De Wispelaere, Jurgen (2015), Republicanism and the political economy of democracy. European Journal of Social Theory, September, 1-18.
Kipping, Katja (2009), Ausverkauf der Politik. Für einen demokratischen Aufbruch, Berlin.
Patry, Eric (2010), Das bedingungslose Grundeinkommen in der Schweiz. Eine republikanische Perspektive, Bern, Stuttgart, Wien.
Socialist Party South Korea, Unconditional Basic Income and General Social Care, Party Program, Supplement No. 1, 2009 (Translation of Socialist Party of South Korea, “Basic Income for All und Universal Welfare”, translation by Min Geum, https://www.grundeinkommen.de/ Content / uploads / 2010/08 / 10-05-22-bge-program-socialist-party-korea-endrb.pdf
Spehr, Christoph (2003), Gleicher als andere. Eine Grundlegung der freien Kooperation, in: Christoph Spehr (Hg.), Gleicher als andere. Eine Grundlegung der freien Kooperation, Berlin, S. 19-115.
Spehr, Christoph (2003), Gleicher als andere. Eine Grundlegung der freien Kooperation, in: Christoph Spehr (Hg.), Gleicher als andere. Eine Grundlegung der freien Kooperation, Berlin, S. 19-115.
Translated by Jason Burke Murphy, Elms College
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
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‘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)
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‘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 | Jan 15, 2017 | Research
The quarterly Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare (based at Western Michigan University) published a symposium on the basic income guarantee (BIG) in its September 2016 issue.
The symposium includes five articles on the topic, plus an introduction written by two members of BIEN: Richard K. Caputo (Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University) and Michael Lewis (School of Social Work at Hunter College, CUNY). The first three articles present arguments for the adoption of a BIG in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, respectively. The fourth argues that a BIG is more politically feasible in the United States than alternative approaches to economic security, such as a Swedish-type welfare state. The fifth proposes a feminist argument for a BIG, although cautioning that more empirical work is needed.
Titles and abstracts, with brief descriptions of the authors, are given below. Links to manuscripts are provided where available.
Jennifer Mays and Greg Marston – “Reimagining Equity and Egalitarianism: The Basic Income Debate in Australia”
“Reimagining equity and egalitarianism calls for rethinking traditional welfare responses to poverty and economic security in Australia. Similar to other advanced Western democracies, Australia has pursued policies underpinned by neoliberal economics in an effort to curtail perceived excesses in public expenditure over the past three decades. In response to these policy settings, commentators and policy activists have increased their attention to the potential of a universal and unconditional basic income scheme to address economic insecurity. This paper positions basic income within the context of Australia’s welfare state arrangements and explores the potential of the scheme to respond to economic insecurity, particularly precarious employment and poverty traps created by a highly targeted social security system.”
May is a Course Coordinator in the School of Public Health and Social Work at the Queensland University of Technology, and Marston is Head of School at the School of Social Science at the University of Queensland.
Mays and Marston are both active members of Basic Income Guarantee Australia (BIGA), BIEN’s Australian affiliate, and were co-editors (with John Tomlinson) of Basic Income in Australia and New Zealand: Perspectives from the Neo-Liberal Frontier (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016).
James P. Mulvale and Sid Frankel – “Next Steps on the Road to Basic Income in Canada”
“Canada has had recurring debates about guaranteed or basic income over several decades. This article outlines reasons for implementing basic income in the Canadian context–reducing poverty and inequality, addressing precarious employment, and building an ecologically sustainable economy. Recently there has been a strong renewal of interest in basic income in Canada. Expressions of interest have come from the Liberal federal government elected in 2015, from provincial governments, from political parties not in power, and from municipal governments. Support for basic income also is found in a growing range of prominent individuals and organizations. While basic income advocates are encouraged by recent developments, several large and complex questions remain on how this approach can be implemented in Canada. These questions encompass the specifics of design, delivery, funding, and political support. How can basic income build on existing income security programs and leave Canadians better off in the end? How can we ensure that basic income is not used as an excuse to cut vital services such health care, social housing, early childhood care and development, and social services for those with disabilities and other challenges? How can basic income be set in place in Canada,given its complicated federal-provincial nexus of responsibility for, delivery of, and funding for social programs? The article concludes with principles that might help guide the implementation of authentically universal, adequate, and feasible basic income architecture in Canada.”
Mulvale is Dean and Frankel an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Manitoba — the site of the 2016 North American Basic Income Guarantee (NABIG) Congress, which they helped to organize.
Keith Rankin – “Prospects for a Universal Basic Income in New Zealand”
“New Zealand is a small liberal capitalist country with a history of egalitarian values and political reform–including the early introduction of universal welfare benefits–and with an uncomplicated relatively flat income tax structure. As such, it has sometimes been seen as a “social laboratory,” a theme of writing about New Zealand and of New Zealand social historians. It therefore has all of the elements in place that could make New Zealand a candidate to become a world leader in integrating income tax and social welfare regimes into a form of universal basic income. Nevertheless, through a combination of intellectual inertia, media cynicism, and the requisite elements not all coming together at the same time, the outlook for an open and healthy discussion around public property rights and unconditional benefits remains constrained. Despite this unpromising intellectual environment, New Zealand may yet stumble upon such reform as a political compromise, as it might have done in 1988.”
Rankin is a Lecturer of Business Practice at the Unitec Institute of Technology in Auckland, New Zealand.
Almaz Zelleke – “Lessons from Sweden: Solidarity, the Welfare State, and Basic Income”
“Progressive critics of a universal basic income argue that most nations face a budgetary choice between a full basic income and investment in public goods, including universal health care, free and well-funded education, and universal pensions, and have prioritized a robust welfare state, or the “Swedish Model,” over basic income. But examination of Swedish economic policy reveals that the welfare state is only one of the ingredients of the Swedish Model, and that another is an interventionist labor market policy unlikely to be expandable to larger states without Sweden’s cultural and demographic characteristics. Indeed, evidence suggests that Sweden’s own recent diversification–not only of race and ethnicity but of occupational strata–will make the Swedish Model less stable in its own home. What lessons can be applied to the case for a basic income in the U.S. and other large and diverse nations or regions?”
Zelleke is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science at New York University’s campus in Shanghai. She has written multiple journal articles and book chapters on basic income, and has been an active member of BIEN.
Sara Cantillon and Caitlin McLean – “Basic Income Guarantee: The Gender Impact within Households”
“The potential of a Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) to contribute to gender equality is a contested issue amongst feminist scholars. This article focuses on the nature of BIG as an individually-based payment to explore its potential for reducing gender equality, specifically intra-household inequalities in material or financial welfare; economic autonomy; psychological well-being; and time allocation, especially leisure time and time spent in household and care work. We employ a gender analysis of existing BIG pilots/schemes as well as close substitutes (e.g., universal child benefits) to assess some of the key claims about the effects of a basic income (BI) on gendered inequality. We also present findings from empirical work on intra-household allocation and decision-making which underscore the role of independent income. The article finds some support for BIG as a feminist proposal with respect to mitigating intra-household inequality, but concludes that further empirical research is needed to argue persuasively for BIG as an instrument for furthering gender equality.”
Cantillon is Professor of Gender and Economics at Glasgow Caledonian University. McLean is a lead researcher at the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California at Berkeley.
Reviewed by Genevieve Shanahan
Cover photo by Christopher Andrews, CC BY-NC 2.0
by Guest Contributor | Jan 13, 2017 | Opinion
Imagine entering a website for your country which after answering a few questions would inform you how much money you would receive from a basic income. This is net of any increased taxes from each of the financing models proposed to finance the UBI. This site 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.
We have this now in a Google Docs spreadsheet form, and it has been forwarded to all the members of the international BIEN outreach group of which I am a member. The original Excel version can be found here.
The outreach group has several objectives. My primary focus in this group is the collaboration, communication, connection, and mutual support of the international groups who are working on modelling, financing and forwarding a universal basic income.
At the congress earlier this year, I presented a paper on a European wide basic income financed by a collective goods and services or value added tax. This was a costed model which indicated that an increase of the European VAT rate of 16 percent to 22 percent would be sufficient to finance a basic income of 150 to 200 Euros for everyone in the European union over the age 18. The expected results for Europe was people had more money to spend, there was increasing employment, no need for austerity measures, big savings in bureaucracy and healthy economies in Europe with the measures they need to cope in a changing world.
While 96 percent of people in Europe would be better off with this UBI, a higher percentage could have been achieved by having a tax-free income allowance as well with a slightly higher GST rate. I was not able to model this, as it impacts individual member budgets while I was seeking a collective UBI agreement keeping with the existing aligned VAT rates across Europe. However, this is the suggestion that I made to the New Zealand government last year.
The Labour party here, along with all the left-leaning parties, have indicated an interest in or directly support UBI. I find that reading other people’s spreadsheets brings on a headache so I have designed an interactive model that hides away the calculations and simply delivers the results of each financial model in a dollar value for your individual circumstance.
I have made this template available to the BIEN international community. They would need to enter their own existing welfare budget, the country tax and VAT incomes. It also asks for the population income and taxation per income band. Doable from web sources in some countries, but needing real work and government assistance in others. It does offer a way to map financial results given different financing models.
While we could disperse this information through our own networks, I have an additional objective in that there are six questions that the website would require you to answer, most of which relate directly to the calculation of your personal UBI net advantage. While the other asks whether you would leave your job if you received a UBI. I will consult with the parties here as to whether they need anything further answered as there were hints of a UBI financed by a capital gains tax which would be interesting to compare.
The four models currently considered are:
- Tax free earnings to $100,000 and UBI of a higher amount financed by a raise in GST.
- A moderate UBI financed by a raise in GST.
- A lower UBI financed by the top tax rate.
- A lower UBI financed by increasing the income tax by the same percentage.
My conclusions are as follows:
- The bottom earners of less than $16,000 are best off with the model (1) as are the people earning more than $70,000.
- The middle earners from $16,000 to $70,000 (the majority) are better off with model (3) however the top tax rate would need to be more than 100 percent and therefore it is not possible.
- Model (2) has the second best overall result of $10,187 average extra money per person yearly. Model (1) has the best of $13,376.
- Model (4) has a similar overall result to model three of an $8,604 average additional income per person annually.
The spreadsheet also adds the total cash benefit for the entire population, and I hope that if this was put to a vote that this would be given due attention, as the extra cash received by many from the top tax being increased is not much more than from the tax-free GST model. The country total is $47 billion for the GST model compared to $26 billion for the top tax. This gap widens as the variables are changed.
My conclusion is that the tax-free GST model is the best method of financing UBI for New Zealand.
My hope is that someone will first audit these findings and bring about this information being shared on a website. This way, people get a chance to view what a UBI means to them and their country. The questions answered will help developers with the data they need to see what the likely outcomes for their country would be.
A final note – A tax on spending enables people to save with the extra UBI they receive, seek employment without a punishing higher tax rate, get a entry-level job without paying any tax on it and still receive the full UBI.
UPDATE: Added new spreadsheet version.
About the Author:
Peter Brake is a self-employed accountant in a busy public practice and a part time organically certified olive farmer. A member of the BIEN outreach task-force, one of four members charged with creating a space in the next congress for Bien affiliates and international developers of UBIs to share their progress, discuss common problems and brainstorm common solutions. He is actively involved with the British, European, Indian and New Zealand UBIs.
by Hilde Latour | Jan 8, 2017 | News
At the party’s congress on December 17th, members of Dutch political party Green Left (“Groen Links”) were given the opportunity to vote on amendments to its election program. This document will be released soon, in advance of the country’s parliamentary elections, which will be held on March 15th, 2017.
In the draft version of the election program, a basic income was only mentioned as a possible means to reform the social welfare system.
Two amendments concerning a universal basic income (UBI) were voted on at the party’s congress:
- Implementation of a UBI
“Green Left supports the (eventual) implementation of an unconditional basic income for everyone, high enough to live decently from. Unconditional economic security will lead to possibilities for a fairer distribution of paid jobs, caregiving, volunteer work and income. In addition to that, it will facilitate entrepreneurship. Starting point is that the lowest incomes will not decrease and the basic income will be co-financed through progressive income taxes. Existing additional financial support for citizens in specific circumstances can continue to exist.”
- Experimenting with a UBI
“Implementation of a national representative experiment of a universal basic income, to be conducted on a large-scale and over several years, aimed at a better understanding of the effects on people’s behaviour.”
Before the voting took place, the board of the party advised members to reject both of the amendments, arguing:
“an unconditional basic income is a bridge too far, as an unconditional basic income uses tax money to support people who don’t need it”.
But the members decided differently: approximately 80% of those present, voted in favour of the second amendment: to start a nationwide experiment of a universal basic income.
The first amendment, concerning the implementation of a UBI failed in a much closer vote: 53% rejected this proposal.
“We now are working hard to make changes in the text of the election program and the definite version will be available soon”, Christel Kohlmann (Head Strategy and Information of the party) explains. It could not be confirmed whether the experiments would really be aimed at a UBI for everyone, however.
For comparison, the currently planned experiments in The Netherlands, although they will test elements of basic income, are not examining a representative sample of the entire population. The social security experiments expected to start this year, for example, will examine only a group selected from people currently receiving welfare benefits.
Green Left is now the second Dutch elected political party that is already in Parliament and now in favour of experimenting with a real UBI. (That is, its members are in favour, and with a convincing majority). The Party for the Animals (“Partij voor de Dieren”) is also in favour of a serious experiment with a UBI and has formulated that in their program. In addition to these two parties, sitting Member of Parliament Norbert Klein will participate in the upcoming elections with the Cultural Liberal Party (“Vrijzinnige Partij”). Klein is now in Parliament as an individual member, having left the 50plus party after the last elections. The Cultural Liberal Party is also in favour of research with a universal basic income, and has even produced a rough calculation on how a UBI should be financed.
Compared to the former elections, support for a UBI has clearly spread and grown in The Netherlands. More than 65.000 people already signed a petition and this number is still growing. In the upcoming month, more political parties will have their members voting for amendments to their party programs in advance of the upcoming elections in March.
Info and links
The amendments on a universal basic income can be found on page 75 of the Green Left congress paper (in Dutch).
The election program of Green Left can be found here (when ready and in Dutch).
Information about the upcoming experiments with social welfare can be found here and here (in Dutch).
THE NETHERLANDS: Party for the Animals wants Universal Basic Income to be investigated
[Hilde Latour]
NETHERLANDS: Debate about unconditional Basic Income in Parliament
[Hilde Latour]
Photo: Euro by Alf Melin 2012, CC BY-SA 2.0
Special thanks to Josh Martin and Kate Mc Farland for reviewing this article
