by Claire Bott | Sep 5, 2017 | News
Common Weal, a Scottish think tank and activist organisation, has released a policy paper suggesting that universal basic income (UBI) could be the best option for an independent Scotland.
Dr Craig Dalzell, the Head of Research for Common Weal, argues that “the anxiety and stress caused by the pressure to conform to the constantly shifting rules around claiming welfare can itself have deleterious effects on the health and well-being of citizens,” and goes on to conclude that UBI “provides a powerful means of enacting the kind of wealth redistribution which promotes the kind of fairer, more equitable society which has been shown to best fulfil the needs of the greatest number of citizens.”
Dr Dalzell states that, as an independent Scotland would have to organise its own welfare system in any case, this would provide an opportunity to move to a different and more equitable means of providing welfare. He also argues that, by using UBI to replace current means-tested benefits, it would be possible to introduce basic income in Scotland without a significant level of increased taxation.
The question of whether Scotland will become independent from Britain is one that has come up a number of times in recent years, most notably in the Scottish referendum which took place in 2014. While this ended in a narrow victory for those who wanted to remain with Britain, the current plans for Britain’s exit from the EU have meant that the issue has arisen again, as the vast majority of Scots voted to stay in the EU. While there are no current plans for immediate Scottish independence, there are many who argue that it must take place eventually, particularly if Britain goes ahead with EU withdrawal.
More information at:
Craig Dalzell, “Social Security For All Of Us”, August 2017
by Kate McFarland | Aug 20, 2017 | News
Café Grundeinkommen, a tiny coffee shop in Berlin, Germany, doubles as a center for meetings and discussion of basic income. The café is now preparing to release a prototype of Circles, a cryptocurrency designed by one of its founders as a means to implement basic income.
Cafe Grundeinkommen
Members of Berlin Basic Income first discussed plans for a basic income café in June 2016, inspired by Swiss People’s Initiative. The hub of the Swiss campaign–which culminated that month in a highly publicized vote on a national referendum on basic income–was a café in Basel, unternehmen mitte, cofounded and managed by basic income advocate Daniel Häni.
A year later, in June 2017, Café Grundeinkommen opened as part of the Tinyhouse university project, an art exhibition at the Bauhaus Archive Museum in Berlin.
The café contains a small library for its guests–consisting of one shelf and a coffee table stocked with books on basic income, alternative economics, and cryptocurrency–and provides meeting place for small groups (including the weekly meetings of a local branch of Bündnis Grundeinkommen, a basic income political party competing in Germany’s federal elections in September). Due to its diminutive size, Café Grundeinkommen cannot house meetings of more than ten people. However, its team holds larger events at nearby buildings–such as a recent public presentation on Basic Income on the Blockchain held at the Bauhaus Pavilion.
Vegan baked goods
Currently open five afternoons per week, Café Grundeinkommen serves direct-trade coffee from the Berlin-based roastery Populus, meeting its commitment to using only “local, ethical, and sustainable” coffee.
Understandably, going to a restaurant/café for a cup of coffee may not be the best option for some people. Just as soon as they hear “you can buy coffee in wholesale” those people may become transfixed, and a spark might appear on their faces. Several companies, including Iron & Fire, deliver high-quality roasted coffee beans and even ground coffee beans right to your door. If interested, you can learn more about their services by visiting their website.
Anyway, in addition to coffee, the café offers one or two kinds of baked goods each day, usually vegan muffins or cookies.
Soon, guests of Café Grundeinkommen will be able to purchase coffee and snacks using a prototype version of Circles–a cryptocurrency designed by one café’s founders, Martin Köppelmann, as a possible mechanism for implementing universal basic income.
Discussing Circles
In the proposed monetary system, first put forth by Köppelmann at Berlin Basic Income’s inaugural meeting in December 2015, all individuals have their own currencies, in which their basic income grants would be paid. To engage in market exchanges, they must create “trust connections” with others with whom they are willing to trade currency. Exchanges can occur between–and only between–individuals who trust one another’s currencies. This type of trade exchange is interesting, especially for those who are interested in learning more about stock and currency trades and investments. Most may find a forex trading course interesting to take if they wish to further their experience within the investment market.
Köppelmann believes that such a digital currency provides the best medium for the distribution of a universal basic income. In his explainer “Introducing Circles,” he writes, “A world wide basic income is something so powerful that no single entity in the world should have control over it in order to preclude manipulation. Particularly, there should be no central authority that decides which person can get a basic income and which person cannot.”
Holy Foods House and Cafe Grundeinkommen
Café Grundeinkommen is currently nearing the launch of an app to put Circles to its first “real world” test. Users of the app will receive monthly credits (their “basic income”), which they will be able to use to “buy” products at the café, in addition to food from HolyFoods House (a food-sharing house neighboring the café), usage hours at the co-working space The New Work Studio, and tickets to events at the Bauhaus Campus.
Café Grundeinkommen’s Ronit Kory told Basic Income News, “We want to see how people will use it on their own, encouraging them to use the app to offer their own goods and services, including ones that might not be considered conventionally valuable in a capitalist system.”
It should be noted that the release of the prototype version of Circles is not a trial of basic income, merely a trial of a type of currency that Köppelmann proposes as a means by which a UBI might be distributed.
In addition to launching the Circles app, Café Grundeinkommen is planning monthly meetings featuring various speakers on subjects related to basic income, which it will announce on its Facebook and MeetUp pages.
Reviewed by Russell Ingram.
Photos used by permission from Cafe Grundeinkommen – Berlin’s Basic Income Cafe. Cover photo: Ronit Kory stands outside Café Grundeinkommen during its construction.
by Kate McFarland | Aug 17, 2017 | News
Slovenian basic income advocate Dr. Valerija Korošec has announced her bid to run in her country’s presidential election on October 22, 2017.
Basic income is the main pillar of her independent candidacy, which also includes e-direct democracy and gender parity.
Korošec made the announcement at a July meeting of Unconditional Basic Income Europe (UBIE), BIEN’s European affiliate. To officially run in the election, she needs to collect 5,000 signatures before the 26th of September.
Valerija Korosec
Korošec, a sociologist and social policy analyst at Slovenia’s Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development, is the author of “Predlog UTD v Sloveniji: Zakaj in kako” (“UBI Proposal in Slovenia: Why and How”), which she presented in English at BIEN’s 2012 Congress in Munich, and the co-editor of the book UTD v Sloveniji (UBI in Slovenia).
She is also Slovenia’s representative in BIEN, and a member of both UBIE and BIEN’s Slovenian affiliate, Sekcija za promocijo UTD.
Basic income has enjoyed a surge of interest in Slovenia in recent years.
In 2013, Slovenia was the second EU nation to attain the required level of support the European Citizen’s Initiative (ECI) for Unconditional Basic Income. Ultimately, the ECI failed to obtain the number of signatures required across Europe for the EU to consider UBI. However, it helped to cultivate lasting awareness of UBI among Slovenians.
In 2016, UBI received a further boost in interest in the country due to international headline events such as Switzerland’s vote on a referendum to establish a nationwide basic income, and the Finnish government’s launch of an experiment to test the effects of an unconditional basic income for the unemployed.
One particularly notable event occurred on October 17, 2016–the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty–when Sekcija za promocijo UTD joined the Slovenian Red Cross and Slovenian Philanthropy, an organization encompassing many charities, in signing the Coalition Against Poverty, accepting the idea that only a basic income can fight poverty efficiently.
In June 2017, Alenka Bratušek, a former Prime Minister now serving as a Member of Parliament, convened a meeting on basic income in Slovenia’s National Assembly.
The occasion marked the second time debate about the idea has been held in a national representative body in Slovenia, with the first having been held in the National Council in 2011. At the National Assembly meeting, three basic income advocates–including Korošec, Dr. Igor Pribac, and Sebastjan Pikl–presented arguments in favor of the implementation of the policy.
Those present voted unanimously to request the government to produce a feasibility analysis of basic income by the end of the year.
At this time, new candidates are still declaring their bids for the Slovenian presidential race.
Polls show incumbent president Borut Pahor as a clear frontrunner, unbeatable by any major political party. In Korošec’s view, joining the election as a basic income candidate has the potential not only to spread the idea to more Slovenians but also to show politicians that the idea can have a substantial impact on the election–which might affect not only this year’s presidential election but also next year’s parliamentary race.
Draft of article reviewed by Valerija Korošec; additional copyediting by Russell Ingram.
Top photo: Ljubljana, Slovenia CC BY-NC 2.0 Gilad Rom
by Tyler Prochazka | Aug 2, 2017 | News
Students from across Taiwan have assembled for the first UBI Taiwan Summer Fellowship. The group is studying and researching Universal Basic Income (UBI) this summer, with the goal of producing a national basic income proposal by September.
The summer fellows met for the first time mid July to be trained in communicating basic income with those that have never been introduced to the idea. The fellows have developed a comprehensive strategy to promote and research UBI in Taiwan.
There are over 30 students from universities across Taiwan participating in either communications or research focused tasks.
“The summer seminar is bringing together both theoretical and practical considerations as a way of creating positive public policy for people,” said Julio Linares, a recent graduate of National Chengchi University (NCCU). Linares, originally from Guatemala, is helping to lead the research team and the seminar.
The fellows are producing a UBI white paper, which is scheduled to be completed by late August, to outline how Taiwan could implement UBI nationally. UBI Taiwan is planning to introduce the policy proposals to Taiwanese policymakers. They are also considering how to create a framework for a basic income pilot program experiment in Taiwan.
Within the fellowship are different teams focused on specific projects, such as social media and news production.
Dongyan Wu, also a NCCU student, is leading the news team for the summer fellowship. Wu said he believes UBI has the potential to transform Taiwan.
“If UBI is successful in Taiwan, everything we do, all our jobs and all the activities, will finally have meaning,” Wu said.
Tyler Prochazka, the fellowship director, started preparing the seminars and recruitment four months ago. Fellows were chosen from nearly 100 applicants based on their skill set and interest in understanding UBI.
Toru Yamamori, Cheng Furui, and Sarath Davala are scheduled to give presentations to the fellows in the coming weeks on various topics related to basic income. Enno Schmidt, the Swiss referendum leader, gave a presentation to the fellows last week.
Ping Xu, the coordinator for UBI Taiwan, said the summer fellowship is part of building up “the kind of future we want to see” in Taiwan.
James Davis, a rising senior from Columbia University in New York, flew to Taiwan for two months to help lead the summer seminar and oversee research for UBI Taiwan. Davis is the director of field research, which is producing the pilot program framework.
“UBI Taiwan’s mission is critical for the future of work in Taiwan. I have really enjoyed getting to know the volunteers, learning about their backgrounds, and sharing their passion for helping others,” Davis said.
by Kate McFarland | Jul 20, 2017 | News
Earlier in July, Bündnis Grundeinkommen (BGE) was officially recognized as a national political party in Germany. The party is campaigning on a single issue: the introduction of an unconditional basic income for Germany.
BGE is now preparing for its official campaign launch event on July 29 in Berlin. The event, called BGE: Open Air, will feature a combination of talks and artistic performances.
DUNDU, CC BY 2.0 Kris Duda
Performers include the high-wire artists of One Inch Dreams (the team behind Alexander Schulz’s recent highly publicized high-wire walk to the summit of Scotland’s Old Man of Hoy)–symbolizing balance in society and freedom with a sense of security–as well as the “gentle giant” puppets of DUNDU. The event will close with a concert from a brass jazz combo.
Guest speakers include Enno Schmidt (co-founder of Switzerland’s basic income referendum campaign), Sascha Liebermann (Professor of Sociology at the Alanus University and co-founder of Freedom Instead of Full Employment), Michael Bohmeyer (founder of Mein Grundeinkommen), Ralph Boes, and Bernhard Neumärker (Professor of Economic Policy at University of Freiburg). BGE chair Susanne Wiest and vice chair Cosima Kern will also speak at the event.
BGE: Open Air will kick off BGE’s campaign for Germany’s federal elections, held on September 24.
More information, including a detailed schedule, is available on the website of Bündnis Grundeinkommen and BGE’s Facebook event page.
Edit (July 22): This article originally stated that Helwig Fenner would represent Mein Grundeinkommen at BGE: Open Air. Since this time, Michael Bohmeyer, the organization’s founder, has agreed to speak. Founded in 2014, Mein Grundeinkommen crowdfunds money to distribute in the form of year-long “basic incomes” to individuals chosen by raffle. To date, it has awarded 99 basic incomes.
