by Kate McFarland | Aug 14, 2016 | News, Testimonies
Juon Kim has been an organizer of Basic Income Youth Network in Korea since 2013. In March of this year, Juon ran for a proportionate candidate of Green Party Korea in the general election, representing the party’s UBI agenda. She’s currently a graduate student of cultural anthropology, and plans to write her MA thesis about basic income.
In this Basic Income Interview, Juon talks about how she came to learn about and support basic income, and why she is now an activist.
About 5 years ago, only a few people in Korea knew about basic income, including my friends. Since they were studying basic income, I became aware of it but was not attracted to it at first. But after reading two women’s books, I decided to live as a UBI advocate and joined the Basic Income Youth Network based in South Korea.
One book is Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own. “It is necessary for women to have five hundred pounds a year and a lock on the door if you are to write fiction or poetry.” It reminded me of basic income immediately. The other is Carole Pateman, a feminist political theorist saying that basic income could guarantee universal economic citizenship of women.
Juon at the 2016 BIEN Congress in Seoul
When I was young, I dreamt of becoming a human rights lawyer. Many discrepancies in the society seemed to have been caused by law which is a tool only for the powerful. I entered university envisioning that I would stand in the forefront of social changes with the law as the tool for justice. I was even thinking of branding law firm ideas to increase my chances of being someone’s first choice to defend them.
But the university that I encountered back in 2010 was no more than a ruin. The gravity of making ends meet pulled heavily against my attempted search for friends with whom I would find solutions to the social ills. No time could be wasted if it wasn’t for career preparation, no space was available without fees, and ultimately no freedom to plan my life as I wanted was granted.
Fortunately, there were great classes and friends in and out of the campus. There were those who were being forcefully evacuated from the very place of their livelihoods in their cities, those who are taking their lives in their hands just to reclaim their lost jobs, and those religious figures, LGBT activists, disability-rights activists, grass-root activists and youth activists who fought against state violence and its forced militarization of Gangjeong village in Jeju island and forced nuclearization of Miryang in Korea.
I saw how they tried and worked to rebuild hope in their own respective communities. We met in support, delight and equality. I experienced happiness rising from others even amidst poor material conditions.
In our encounters I realized something. All of us who were dreaming of a better life, one that’s better than now, were in fact fighting against ‘dual poverty’. They fought against poverty of their own and simultaneously poverty of the world.
What I endured was not different from what they endured. It was in this moment I was introduced to the idea of ‘basic income’. I strongly related to its philosophy that the rights to eat and live should be guaranteed just for the reason that I am a constituent of this society.
What if the activists I met who suffered from dual poverty had basic income? What if my colleagues, women, youth and young adults, farmers, artists and seniors had basic income? What happens when there appears this gift called basic income in the Korean society, whose severe income bipolarization and winner-takes-all structures in all corners render all untrustworthy toward each other?
I imagined an alternative made possible by the hope called basic income to those who give up their lives or terrorize others’ lives because there cannot be a better tomorrow. Then I joined basic income movement because I wanted to imagine all these possibilities as one.
The ‘human rights’ that used to be so nondescript when I wanted to be its lawyer took shape as an economic citizenship, basic income. Basic income as the fundamental right for all humans. I hope it becomes a common sense to all everywhere in the world in the nearest future.
Photos used by permission of Juon Kim. (Cover photo: Juon promotes basic income at International Women’s Day, dressed as a suffragette.)
Juon wishes to thank her friend Heehe for translation assistance.
Basic Income Interviews is a special recurring segment of Basic Income News, introduced in July 2016 by Jason Murphy and Kate McFarland. Through a series of short interviews, we aspire to display the diversity of support that basic income receives throughout the world.
Have your own thoughts to contribute? Want to see yourself in a future Basic Income Interview?
Visit our interview form.
by Guest Contributor | Aug 3, 2016 | News
For the Forum’s press release, click here.
Revenu de base Québec (RBQ) and the Mouvement Français pour un Revenu de Base (MFRB) have teamed up to organize a series of initiatives spanning this years World Social Forum, to be held from August 9th – 14th in Montreal.
Various activities will be organized to help people learn, create and exchange views on a number of issues relating to basic income. Hoping to advance the idea during one of the largest global gatherings of civil society.
Discover the program (in French here):
Créathon
In the style of a “hackathon” this creative marathon will be held over two and a half days and bringing together creators from different backgrounds: art, activism, technology, etc., who share an interest in basic income.
Wednesday, August 10th: 13h-18h
Thursday, August 11th: 9h-18h
Friday, August 12th: 9h-17h
Location: UQAM – Pavillon Hubert-Aquin, rooms A-1824 and A-1825
Ğeconomicus game
Ğeconomicus is an economic simulation game to discover the influence of money creation on trade. Players will buy and sell economic values in order to create new ones. There will be two sessions.
Wednesday, August 10th: 13h-15h
Friday, August 12th: 13h-15h
Location: UQAM – Pavillon Hubert-Aquin, Room A-1825
Convergence Assembly: “Basic income: From realistic utopia to public policy”
The goal of this convergence meeting is to bring together activists from all backgrounds to reflect on methods and actions to be taken at all different levels when it comes to turning the ideas of a realistic utopia into public policy. The scope extends from municipal politics to international politics, through experiments, and creating synergies between the various actors of civil society.
Wednesday, August 10th: 16h-18h
UQAM – Room A 1824 (Pavillon Hubert-Aquin)
Convergence Assembly: “Income, a non-medical remedy?”
An assembly of healthcare workers, people active in helping the poor, activists of basic income and anyone interested in the link between income and health, in order to find common ground and ways to work together.
Thursday, August 11th: 16h-18h
UQAM – Room A 1824 (Pavillon Hubert-Aquin)
Debate: “The universal allowance and the maximum wealth”
Can a basic income be implemented without its corollary, maximum wealth? With the explosion of inequality and tax competition between states that threaten social achievements, market regulation through a “floor” and “ceiling” of income and individual capital seems like a promising idea in the direction of greater social and economic justice.
Thursday, August 11th: 13h-15h
UQÀM – (Pavillon Hubert-Aquin, room A-1825)
Grand Conference “Basic income: social innovation for the 21st century”
Friday, August 12th: 18h- 7:30 p.m.
Concordia University (Hall Building, room H-110)
For the Grand Conference, we will welcome the participation of stakeholders from various backgrounds who will paint a picture of the situation of basic income around the world:
Karl Widerquist
Associate professor at SFS-Qatar Georgetown University (Washington DC). He holds a PhD in Economics from the City University of New York and a doctorate in political theory from Oxford University. He participated in six books. Many relate to basic income, including his latest: Independence, Propertylessness, and Basic Income: A Theory of Freedom as the Power to Say No (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013). He is a founder and editor of the journal Basic Income Studies. His articles have also appeared in several magazines including: Political Studies; The Eastern Economic Journal; Politics and Society; and Politics, Philosophy and Economics. He is co-chair of Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), the leading global network of research and action on the basis of income.
Marcus Brancaglione
He describes himself as a “libertarian activist of basic income and direct democracy.” He is the president of ReCivitas, coordinating a basic income guarantee project in the city of Quatinga Velho, in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. He is the creator of the digital platform for direct democracy Governe-se.com and alternative IP site RobinRight.org. He has published articles and books and is regularly invited to give lectures on these subjects.
Rutger Bregman
Historian and opinion shaper, he is the author of several books, he is best known as one of the editors of the permanent media platform online De Correspondent, created in 2013, when his book De geschiedenis van de vooruitgang was named by the Dutch to be the brightest non-fiction book of the year. In 2015, he co-wrote with Jesse Frederik the philosophical essay Waarom vuilnismannen meer dan verdien Bankiers. The English translation of his latest book, Utopia for Realists, gave him a far reaching international reputation.
Nicole Teke
Coordinator of Public Relations for MFRB and secretary of the European network UBIE, she will also participate in the Main Conference as the host and a speaker to present the progress of basic income in Europe.
Pre-registration to the activities on basis income come from all continents, it will be a truly global forum on the subject.
More information: https://site-845609-9101-5923.strikingly.com/
Contacts:
RBQ: gosselin.luc@gmail.com
MFRB: nicole.teke@revenudebase.info
by Kate McFarland | Aug 2, 2016 | News
The Movement for Black Lives, the network of organizations behind the United States’ Black Lives Matter movement, released its first official platform on Monday, August 1. The platform calls for a universal basic income for all Americans, with an additional amount distributed to Black Americans as reparations.
The Movement for Black Lives (MBL), a collective of over 50 groups affiliated with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, released its official platform on Monday, August 1.
The platform is constructed around six core demands: Ending the war against Black people; Reparations for past and continuing harm; Investment in education, health and safety, and divestment from exploitative forces; Economic Justice for all; Community Control of laws and institutions; and independent Black Political Power.
The platform is explicitly radical and visionary, aspiring to a “complete transformation of the current systems”, but its authors have also written policy briefs that outline intermediary steps to reach these visions.
The Movement for Black Lives’ demands include universal basic income, as described in its policy statement on Reparations. The document makes clear that MBL endorses a basic income for all Americans, with an additional amount (a UBI “PLUS”) given to Black Americans as reparations for harms ranging from colonialism and slavery to mass incarceration.
Political scientist Dorian T. Warren, a Fellow of Roosevelt Institute and Board Chair of the Center for Community Change, authored the policy brief. Its section on universal basic income is reproduced below:
What does this solution do?
A Universal Basic Income (UBI) provides an unconditional and guaranteed livable income that would meet basic human needs while providing a floor of economic security. UBI would eliminate absolute poverty, ensuring economic security for all by mandating an income floor covering basic needs. Unlike most social welfare and social insurance programs, it is not means tested nor does it have any work requirements. All individual adults are eligible.
No other social or economic policy solution today would be of sufficient scale to eradicate the profound and systemic economic inequities afflicting Black communities.
As patterns and norms of “work” change rapidly and significantly in the decades to come – no matter how profound those changes are – it is likely that Black America and other populations that are already disadvantaged will bear the brunt of whatever economic insecurity and volatility results.
A pro-rated additional amount included in a UBI for Black Americans over a specified period of time.
The revenue saved from divesting in criminal justice institutions could be pooled into a fund for UBI; this revenue could be earmarked for the “PLUS” aspect of the policy that would be targeted toward Black Americans. If combined with other funds, it would effectively function as reparations, in a grand bargain with white America: All would benefit, but those who suffered through slavery and continuing racism would benefit slightly more.
Federal Action:
UBI would have to pass both houses of Congress and then be signed by the president. The revenue could be generated by multiple sources which would require structural reforms to the tax code including higher taxes on the wealthy, taxes on public goods like air (carbon tax) or on certain industries (financial transactions tax), or a dividend based on distributing resources from a common-owned asset (like oil).
State Action:
Similar to national policy, UBI would have to pass through state legislatures and be signed by governors. Other instances might require amendments to State Constitutions. The precedent here is the Alaska Permanent Fund, set up in the late 1970s/early 1980s. All residents of Alaska receive an annual dividend based on the invested revenue from the publicly-owned oil reserves.
How does this solution address the specific needs of some of the most marginalized Black people?
UBI would then provide an individual-sustaining basic floor for people who are formerly incarcerated upon re-entry that does not currently exist.
UBI would be an improvement on portions of today’s current safety net and would benefit cash poor Black people the most. Some benefits, such as food stamps, are replete with paternalistic restrictions that rest on racist tropes about recipients and their consumption habits. Others, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), are significantly tied to work, which is problematic when structural racism continues to create so many barriers to Black employment. UBI lacks these flaws.
The document also links to Warren’s essay “Universal Basic Income and Black Communities in the United States“. In this short paper, Warren describes the problem of racialized economic inequalities in the American economy, and proposes UBI as a solution. He emphasizes that most forms of UBI would benefit the black community, and that “even an equal income could disproportionately benefit black Americans” since white Americans presently earn more on average.
Warren goes on to argue, however, that a “Universal PLUS Basic Income” model, with an additional pro-rated cash transfer specifically for African Americans, would be preferable as a way to “take into account the historical and cumulative disadvantages of income, wealth and inheritance afflicting black communities”.
The Black Lives Matter movement originated in July 2013, after a Florida jury acquitted George Zimmerman of all charges surrounding the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin. The movement spread on social media via the use of the hashtag “#BlackLivesMatter”.
Tuesday, August 9 marks the two-year anniversary of the death of Michael Brown, another unarmed black teenager who was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. The fatal shooting launched a series of street protests that brought widespread national publicity to BLM to a point where the topic of raising the Black Lives Matter flag was discussed in various circles of the government to show solidarity against racism. The BLM flag may not be flying atop a monster flagpole anytime soon, but the discussions in several mediums have definitely carried forward the cumulative fears and concerns of the African American populace.
Monday’s release marks the first time in its history that BLM has issued a single, comprehensive set of policy demands.
MORE INFORMATION
The Platform is available at The Movement for Black Lives’ website: policy.m4bl.org.
Dorian T. Warren, “Universal Basic Income and Black Communities in the United States“.
General news about the release of the BLM platform:
Yamiche Alcindor, “Black Lives Matter Coalition Makes Demands as Campaign Heats Up“, The New York Times; August 1, 2016.
Eric M. Johnson, “Slavery reparations sought in first Black Lives Matter agenda“, Reuters; August 2, 2016.
Amée Latour, “How To Read The Black Lives Matter Agenda & See Its Comprehensive Plan For The Future“, Bustle; August 1, 2016.
Trymaine Lee, “Black Lives Matter Releases Policy Agenda“, NBC News; August 1, 2016.
Jamilah King, “The Movement for Black Lives’ New Policy Platform Looks Beyond the 2016 Election“, Mic; August 1, 2016.
Tess Owen, “Black Lives Matter reveals a policy platform that includes reparations and breaking up banks“, Vice; August 2, 2016.
Featured Image CC Gerry Lauzon
Thanks, as always, to my supporters on Patreon
by Kate McFarland | Jul 31, 2016 | News, Testimonies
Nina Šoštarič obtained her Master’s Degree in Philosophy from University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, with a thesis titled “Basic Income as a Step towards Environmental Justice”. She is now a PhD student at University College Dublin in Ireland, where her research lies in the intersection of equality issues, social justice, and degrowth.
Nina has published two articles — “Between Socialism and Capitalism: Universal Basic Income” (2012) and “UBI in the Light of Global Environmental Crisis” (2011) — and edited the book Where are we headed? Thoughts on Ending the Crisis (2013) (all in the Slovenian language).
In a recent Basic Income Interview, Nina explained her interest in the idea:
I first heard about basic income years ago in college when my professor Igor Pribac, later my supervisor, talked about basic income at a module called Social Philosophy. Immediately I thought it was an amazing concept.
I support basic income because it is truly an inspirational idea. Every individual and the society as a whole could benefit immensely from it, if implemented properly. Basic income would provide a safety net for everyone in this precarious era. I think it has a big transformational potential.
Nina recommends the website Sekcija UTD for more information about the basic income movement in Slovenia.
Photo used by permission of Nina Šoštarič.
Basic Income Interviews is a special recurring segment of Basic Income News, introduced in July 2016 by Jason Murphy and Kate McFarland. Through a series of short interviews, we aspire to display the diversity of support that basic income receives throughout the world.
Have your own thoughts to contribute? Want to see yourself in a future Basic Income Interview? Visit our interview form.
by Guest Contributor | Jul 22, 2016 | Opinion
Donald Trump and the Prospects for a Basic Income
By Steven Shafarman
The Republican Party convention is over, and I’m feeling hopeful. Trump’s triumph may be a big step forward in our campaign to enact a basic income in the United States.
With Trump’s speech, and the convention’s overall tone, the party has completed its transition and come out of the closet. It’s now the Repugnant Party.
Our best hope is a landslide defeat, leaving Trump and the Repugnant Party in the dust. That will also leave Republicans with the task of rebuilding, seeking to reunite their Pro-Trump, Never-Trump, and Stuck-with-Trump factions. They’ll need a platform that’s positive, uplifting, and optimistic, something like a new version of Reagan’s “morning in America” — and they’ll have that, if the reborn Republican Party endorses a version of basic income.
Republicans might call it a “negative income tax,” quoting Milton Friedman, who strongly endorsed it in several books and many articles. Perhaps they’ll favor “Citizen Dividends,” to underscore the fact that the basic income is for citizens only, not immigrants. During their convention, they loudly denounced Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party as the establishment status quo, and the cause of everything that’s wrong in America today. Republicans can reinforce those arguments by touting basic income as a way to cut taxes, end corporate welfare, and achieve many of their other goals and values.
Democrats will be pressing hard to bring rapid progress, and President Hillary Clinton will be eager to prove that she is much more than a third term for Barack Obama. She can do that by talking about basic income, even if she only floats it as an idea, stopping short of full-on support. They might like UBI, universal or unconditional basic income, using the “U” to emphasize liberal values. If Clinton doesn’t act, Bernie Sanders and his supporters may became our champions, running with this issue and taking over the Democratic Party.
We Americans will have a basic income within the next ten years, I predict, possibly within two to three years.
Steven Shafarman is a co-founder of Basic Income Action, a life member of BIEN, and on the coordinating committee of USBIG. His forthcoming book is The Basic Income Imperative: for peace, justice, liberty, and personal dignity. (If you are or know a literary agent or publisher, please contact him through www.basicincomeaction.org.)
Donald Trump photo credit: Gage Skidmore (2013)