by Scott Santens | Oct 31, 2014 | Opinion
As reported here earlier this month, Green Party candidate for Congress Ian Schlakman of Maryland’s Second Congressional District has made the Basic Income Guarantee a major issue in his campaign. Basic Income News asked him for an interview and he took the time from his campaign to answer our questions.
I first learned about a negative income tax when I was about 20. I really liked the idea but the implementation seemed a bit confusing. A year and a half ago I began looking at parties and races for the 2014 elections. I also started seeing news stories about Universal Basic Income (UBI) from Switzerland. While running, I got a crash course in how to create focus and maintain consistency in messaging.
I initially entered the race due to my cyber security credentials and to challenge Rep. Dutch Ruppersburger on his handling of Snowden and the NSA (he is the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee). Later on, I decided that my core issue would be a UBI.
Messaging a complex idea like UBI definitely posed some challenges. First we came up with “Think BIG with a Basic Income Guarantee”. But then a high-ranking Green Party US (GPUS) staffer suggested that we change, or explain BIG by bringing up Social Security. He also pointed out that BIG has been in the GPUS platform for years.
Now we use “Social Security for All” in our messaging. Frankly, it’s the easiest way to explain a UBI to everyday people. An excellent side-effect of this is that in a day and age when Social Security is being attacked, it makes a clear distinction that I would fight to expand Social Security to everyone.
As a candidate for the Green Party, what effects do you believe a basic income will have on traditionally considered key components of the Green Party platform like a cleaner environment, progress on climate change, and the pursuit of sustainability?
The challenge was to show that the Greens are more than just environmentalist. I relied a lot on the Green Party platform. Take a look at it. It’s huge, it’s thorough, and it’s very well- thought-out. The platform already had a lot of great reasons for a BIG and several other economic justice and economic stimulus ideas.
Our economic system demands that you make an income to pay for your essentials. I personally believe that’s wrong. In a world of such extreme abundance, we should be moving to a “Post Scarcity” age. But as a Congressman, it’s not my job to turn my opinion into legislation.
The reality that you have to work no matter what to pay for life’s essentials has far-reaching consequences on the environment and the health of communities. If someone desperately needs work, (like so many of us do) they have to work anywhere that will hire them. This means if only high-polluting, low-wage jobs that are harmful to the environment are available in your community, such as fast-food or mountaintop removal mining projects, then that’s where you have to work or you won’t be able to survive.
A Social Security for All program would be a great step in making sure you don’t have to choose between harming your community and paying your rent. Also, it would allow entrepreneurs a bit of breathing room when they begin their business ventures. So if you wanted to quit your job in fast-food and start a business as a local tailor, a BIG would really help while you’re in the crucial startup months.
Scott Santens, Interviewer
When we started pushing for a BIG, we started gaining lots of Twitter followers but they were mostly from Europe. A BIG was (and arguably still is) relatively unheard of in the USA. It became clear rather quickly that explaining what a BIG is and why it’s an excellent idea was going to be harder than I anticipated. When we’re on Reddit or Facebook it’s easy to assume that everyone knows what you’re talking about when you mention BIG or UBI. When you have between 30 to 120 seconds to describe what you would do on Social Security in a debate to an audience that’s never heard of BIG, let’s just say it’s tough.
When you run for public office and you take on a responsibility to the public, you have to realize that most people spend their spare time with their families, fixing up their homes, working a second job, working a third job, etc. You have to be willing to take on the challenge of explaining big (no pun intended) concepts in very brief sound bites.
To answer your question directly, Social Security for All is my preferred method of explaining a BIG. If elected, I would work with a coalition of Democrats who want to expand Social Security and Republicans who are familiar with things like Milton Friedman’s Negative Income Tax. My goal is to create some truly bipartisan legislation that would give everyone a BIG.
You’ve mentioned universal healthcare and a $15 minimum wage as part of your platform of “thinking BIG” with basic income. What other big ideas do you want the opportunity to fight for in Congress?
I would like to deescalate our military presence abroad. I would work with progressive Democrats and libertarian Republicans to end current military actions overseas, close foreign military bases (especially in countries that don’t want us there) and bring our troops home. I would take every opportunity to stop military drone operations. I would never authorize spending for what Ron Paul calls “illegal wars”. Congress (including my opponent, Democrat Dutch Ruppersburger) just authorized a half BILLION dollars for military action in Syria. I would have voted against this. I don’t care what party the President is from, if they want money for a war then they need to follow the Constitution and get Congress to declare war. America should be seen as a country that takes military violence very seriously and follows its own Constitution.
Some suggest that having a basic income should lead to a more civic-minded and politically-engaged citizenry. Do you consider basic income one step toward weakening corruption and strengthening democracy? What other steps would you take in Congress to reduce the corrupting influence of money on government?
YES! As I mentioned previously, far too many people are working over 40 hours a week, more than 1 job, etc. This leaves no time for art, mental health, recreation and democratic engagement! This is a huge problem.
In Maryland, we have a fantastic organization called GMOM (Get Money out of Maryland) that I’ve worked with. I know they have chapters in all 50 states and I would encourage people to find their state and local chapters.
How can those interested in helping make basic income a reality help you and your campaign?
We as activists, advocates and academics tend to gloss over the need for financial and volunteer support when it comes to elections. A BIG will not just appear one day. We all need to support candidates that take the risk of supporting something as exceptional as a BIG.
There are a few Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and independents that know about and support a UBI. But remember it’s been a staple of the Green Party for years. So make an effort to contact your local Green candidates and donate some money or some time.
As for my campaign, please spread the word on social media! Please consider a donation even if you only have $5. And if you really want to get involved, sign-up to volunteer on our website at ian42.com/volunteer. We are focusing on making phone calls from now until the end of the campaign to make sure our supporters get out and vote. If you’re able to help out (either in the Baltimore area or from across the country) please let us know!
by Harry Pitts | Oct 18, 2014 | Research
In this article Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party of Canada, suggests the ‘implementation of a universal Guaranteed Livable Income. She argues that such a measure ‘would provide the means for every Canadian to avoid poverty. It would save the health care system, the criminal justice system, and a whole raft of other social programs from spending their valuable resources on issues whose root cause is poverty. It could easily be paid for by a modest carbon tax. It would make our economy stronger and our society more just. A GLI paid for by a carbon tax would help to bridge any perceived gap between the fights for social, labour, economic, and environmental justice. It would also help minimize the disproportionate carbon footprint of the wealthy while allowing the less wealthy the freedom to find good work, without being forced to take any job that will employ them. It would hopefully spur real change in the intertwined fights for a livable climate and a just society.’
The full article is available here:
Elizabeth May, “A $15 minimum wage will not solv
e inequality — but it’ll help”, Rabble, 3rd October 2014
by Karl Widerquist | Oct 5, 2014 | News
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Thursday, February 26 – Sunday March 1, 2015
The Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) is suddenly a major topic of conversation in America and around the world. Activist movements have sprung up to push for it. Recent articles in the popular press have discussed it as a part of strategies to address recession, poverty, inequality, carbon pollution, and technological unemployment. In an economy forcing increasing numbers of people into precarious employment situations, is BIG a necessary and achievable part of efforts to retrieve democratic social stability? Can we afford it? How will it affect the economy? Will the new activist movements for BIG take off?
USBIG
We invite participants to address these and other questions at the Fourteenth Annual North American Basic Income Guarantee (NABIG) Congress, which will take place in New York City starting Thursday, February 26 – Sunday March 1, 2015. The congress is organized by the U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network (USBIG) in cooperation with the Basic Income Canada Network (BICN/RCRG). It will be held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Economic Association (EEA). It will also include free event(s) to be held at other venues and announced later.
Featured speakers at the conference confirmed so far include Marshall Brain, futurist and author of How Stuff Works and Manna; Peter Barnes, environmentalist and author of Who Owns the Sky?, With Liberty and Dividends For All, and Capitalism 3.0; Ann Withorn, welfare rights activist and Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts Boston, author of Serving the People: Social Services and Social Change and co-editor of For Crying out Loud: Women and Poverty in the U.S.; Jim Mulvale, Dean of the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Manitoba and Vice-Chairperson of the Basic Income Canadian Network (BICN/RCRG), and Mary Bricker Jenkins, Professor of Social Work, Temple University, and US Welfare Rights Union leaders.
A major focus of this conference is to introduce BIG to new audiences and to explain why it matters to so many. Therefore, we invite participants either to present a paper or to organize a dialogue or a workshop. For example, we suggest submitting proposals for a dialogue about BIG and today’s social movements, which could focus on labor issues (full employment, minimum wage, etc.), on racial and gender justice, on environmental issues, on immigration concerns and so on. The goal is to engage an open conversation about the connections (and possible tensions) between movement activists and BIG supporters. A dialogue is not a debate, but an effort to promote discussion across movements. Alternatively, workshops might involve an exercise to bring out the group’s thoughts and feelings about some issue relating to BIG.
Everyone attending the events at the EEA Conference must register with the EEA and pay their registration fee. If you register as a USBIG participant, you can register for the EEA members’ price of $110 without paying the EEA’s membership fee—saving $65. All registered attendees of the North American Basic Income Congress are welcome to attend any of the EEA’s events. Participants attending only the free event(s) need not register. Details of those events will be announced later.
BICN
All points of view are welcome. To present a paper, to organize a workshop, or lead a dialogue at the congress, submit a proposal to the congress organizer, Karl Widerquist of USBIG, at Karl@widerquist.com.
Please include the following information with your proposal:
1. Name(s)
2. Affiliation(s)
3. Address
4. City, Province/State, Postal/Zip Code, and Country
5. Telephone
6. Email Address(es)
7. Title of Paper, Presentation, or Panel
8. Abstract or description of the presentation or workshop (50-150 words)
9. Indicate your availability for the free events, the paid events, or both.
Panels: Proposals for panel discussions should include a title, topic, and description of the panel and the names and contact information for each participant. For dialogues, only one or two moderators need to be listed.
DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: November 10th, 2014
For updated information on featured speakers, registration, and accommodations as it becomes available, visit the USBIG website: www.usbig.net. For more information about the Eastern Economics Association Annual Meeting, visit the EEA website: https://www.quinnipiac.edu/eea/41st-annual-conference/.
Essential information:
Conference dates: Thursday, February 26 – Sunday, March 1, 2015
The deadline for participant submissions: November 10, 2014
Location: New York, NY
Organizing committee: Karl Widerquist <Karl@Widerquist.com> (organizer), Ann Withorn <withorn.ann@gmail.com>, Shawn Cassiman <scassiman1@udayton.edu>, and Jurgen De Wispelaere <jurgen.dewispelaere@gmail.com>
Website: USBIG.net.
by Josh Martin | Sep 19, 2014 | News
Shawn Cassiman (Source: Academia.edu)
The Seventh International Basic Income Week started on Monday with events scheduled all over the world as well as a series of “Ask Me Anything” threads on Reddit. Among the latest to host AMAs are Ann Withorn and Shawn Cassiman, Mike Howard, Hyosang Ahn, and Pablo Yanes.
Ann Withorn (Source: Derrick Cazard Foundation)
Ann Withorn, Ph.D. is Professor of Social Policy, Emeritus, at the University of Massachusetts/Boston. Her main work revolves around issues of economic justice, women’s poverty, and radical social movements. Shawn Cassiman, MSW, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor at the University of Dayton in Ohio. Her research largely focuses on the impact of structural violence, especially on women, and policies that lead to a more just society. Their AMA, hosted on the Two X Chromosomes subreddit focuses on the effects of a basic income on women and its ability to address the ramifications of neoliberalism.
Mike Howard is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maine and is the author of Self-management and the Crisis of Socialism, the editor of Socialism, and a co-editor of two books on Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend. He also serves as coordinator of the US Basic Income Guarantee Network. Specifically, Howard is an expert on socialist philosophy, the Alaska dividend, and on cap and dividend proposals. His AMA contains a great discussion about socialism in the modern political climate as well as questions about the Alaska Permanent Fund.
Mike Howard (Source: Bangor Daily News)
Hyosang Ahn is the Director of the Basic Income Korean Network and is editor of Left Monthly. His AMA, although short, contains information on the basic income movement in South Korea.
Pablo Yanes (Source: unam.mx)
Pabo Yanes is from Mexico and is working on advocating a basic income as a basic human right. His AMA focuses on whether a basic income is feasible in developing countries.
On top of these AMAs, there have been organized events all over the world this week about the basic income. A list of all events is online at: https://basicincomeweek.org/activities/
The Basic Income Subreddit is online at: https://www.reddit.com/r/BasicIncome
Information about the grown of the BI Subreddit is online at: https://redditmetrics.com/r/BasicIncome
by Citizens' Income Trust | Sep 15, 2014 | News
Conference report: 63 people attended the conference, held by invitation of the British Library at its conference centre.
Anne Miller, Chair of the trustees, welcomed everyone to the conference, offered a brief history of the recent Citizen’s Income debate in the UK, and explained that an important aim of the conference was to help the Citizen’s Income Trust’s trustees to develop a strategy for the next few years. Jude England, Head of Research Engagement at the British Library, then introduced the British Library and its many research and educational facilities. Malcolm Torry, Director of the Citizen’s Income Trust, explained a few terminological matters: that a Citizen’s Income is an unconditional, nonwithdrawable income paid to every individual as a right of citizenship; that different rates can be paid for people of different ages; that a Basic Income is the same thing as a Citizen’s Income (as is a Universal Benefit or a Social Dividend); and that in the UK the words ‘minimum’ and ‘guarantee’ are tainted by association with means-testing and so should be avoided. Child Benefit would be a Citizen’s Income for children if it were paid at the same rate for every child. Debate ensued on the definition of a Citizen’s Income, and on the meaning of citizenship.
Guy Standing, Professor of Development Studies, SOAS, University of London, spoke on ‘Citizen’s Income: an income floor for the Precariat, and the means of global development’. He explained that we are in the midst of a painful transition. More flexible labour markets are leading to the breakdown of social insurance methods for sustaining income and to a resultant increase in means-testing, which in turn leads to categorising people as deserving and undeserving poor. Means-testing reduces incentives to seek employment so coercion, sanctions and ‘workfare’ are the result. The precarity trap (the fact that it is irrational to take short-term low-paid employment if that means frequent benefits applications) might now be as significant as the poverty trap. Professor Standing described some of the results of the recent Citizen’s Income pilot projects in Namibia and India, and offered four justifications for a Citizen’s Income:
- Justice: our wealth is due to the efforts of our forebears, so we all deserve a social dividend.
- Rawlsian: a policy is only justifiable if it improves the position of the poorest member of society. A Citizen’s Income can pass this test
- A policy must pass the paternalism test: that is, no policy is just if it imposes tests on some groups that are not imposed on others. A Citizen’s Income passes this test, too.
- The ‘rights not charity’ principle. Due process was an important provision in the Magna Carta. Means-tested benefits allow discretion to State officials, thus bypassing due process.
John McDonnell MP introduced Tony Benn’s theory of political change: that new policies are thought ‘bad’ and then ‘mad’ before everyone claims to have thought of the idea. Thomas Kuhn’s research on scientific change suggested that current theory becomes problematic, new possibilities emerge, and suddenly a paradigm shift occurs. Iain Duncan Smith’s Universal Credit and other changes are revealing the problematic nature of the current benefits system, but there is a vacuum in terms of new ideas. A Citizen’s Income brings together debates about citizenship and poverty, and provides the necessary new paradigm: but obtaining agreement on the implementation of a Citizen’s Income won’t be easy. For the Labour Party, Ed Miliband will only move when it is safe to do so (as he has, for instance, over energy bills). When he does move, then he gathers support. We therefore need to make a Citizen’s Income safe for politicians. We need to lead so that the leaders can follow. The Labour Party is bereft of policies designed to tackle poverty and precarity, so the Trust needs to work with think tanks to provide the required package, and it needs:
- A seriousness of intent
- A professional approach
- Confidence
- Excitement and enthusiasm
Natalie Bennett (Leader of the Green Party) suggested that the outcome of a successful campaign would be that she would be able to say ‘Basic Income’ on Newsnight and everybody would know what she meant. People do ‘get it’ when the idea is explained to them, because the welfare safety net has fallen apart and they want to be able to feed their children without going to food banks. Public education is essential. Biological evolution is punctuated evolution: that is, alternating periods of stability and change. A Citizen’s Income constitutes the next major change because it would change everything, and in particular would provide both economic security and ecological sustainability. The Trust’s task is to educate people about a Citizen’s Income and its effects.
Tony Fitzpatrick (Reader, University of Nottingham) entitled his paper ‘Schemes and Dreams’. The welfare state established after the Second World War was the closest that we’ve ever got to achieving both security and freedom. We must now ask how we should achieve that combination today. Dr. Fitzpatrick discussed four moral contexts: productivism, distributivism, the deliberative, and the regenerative. A post-productivist settlement is needed if we are to conserve the world’s resources. A Citizen’s Income could contribute to that happening, and it could conform to all four moral contexts.
After discussion, and then lunch, three working groups met and then presented their findings at a plenary session:
Brief reports from the working groups
- Funding options: If the level of the Citizen’s Income is too low then it might not be politically inspiring. A variety of funding methods were discussed, but because policymakers are cautious, in the short term it might be important to concentrate attention on the Citizen’s Income itself rather than on possible funding mechanisms: so initially a Citizen’s Income would need to be funded by reducing existing tax allowances and benefits, with other mechanisms being considered later.
- Political feasibility: We need to avoid current vocabulary in order to avoid stale current debates; we need to offer a clear message of hope through visual representations; we need both a core message and variants to appeal to different audiences; we need a group of sponsors to raise the debate’s profile; and we need to relate to MPs, MEPs, NGOs, and other groups, so that they can promote the idea. A Citizen’s Income is the route to emancipation and freedom, and to the exercise of a variety of rights, and rights language could be useful. A Citizen’s Income enables people to care for others, so care language could also be helpful. Pilot projects will be important.
- The research required: Qualitative research is needed to test the acceptability of different ways of expressing a Citizen’s Income. The level at which a Citizen’s Income would be paid would also affect the idea’s acceptability. We need to show that people would wish to work in order to demolish the myth that there would be numerous free-riders. We need to show that a Citizen’s Income would act as an economic stabiliser in the context of a gap between wages and productivity; and we need to show how a Citizen’s Income would impact on health and other outcomes.
Panel discussion
Natalie Bennett (Leader of the Green Party) asked the Citizen’s Income Trust to provide both a wide variety of material and a clear and simple message; Kat Wall (New Economics Foundation) asked the Trust to be clear how work and social participation would be affected by a Citizen’s Income; and Neal Lawson (Compass) said that the time is right for a Citizen’s Income so we need to grasp the opportunity. A moral argument is required, and not just the figures. We need the courage to be utopian. Whilst a Citizen’s Income isn’t about everything, it is about security. Such central connections need to be clearly represented in new ways. Bert Schouwenburg (of the GMB Trade Union) discussed the fact that no trade union has a position on Citizen’s Income, and that that needs to change. Trades unions are wage brokers, and it needs to be made clear that a Citizen’s Income would complement that activity. Chris Goulden (Joseph Rowntree Foundation) explained that researchers are meant to be sceptical. A Citizen’s Income is dignified and simple and it avoids stigma, but such questions as who gains and who loses are important. ‘Something for something’ remains a significant public attitude, and lifecourse redistribution is acceptable, but not redistribution across income groups. A Citizen’s Income campaign needs to take account of such attitudes.
Further discussion followed; and then Professor Hartley Dean (London School of Economics), who had chaired the panel discussion, summed up the conference:
Citizen’s Income is a technology, or policy mechanism, which can serve a variety of ends. We must ensure that it serves social justice. We need to say how it would work, and the detail matters. Citizen’s Income is also a philosophical proposition. It is elegant, and it challenges prevailing understandings, for instance, of work, of human livelihood, of relationships of care, and of rights. ‘Unconditional’ is a stumbling block when applied to people of working age: but ‘working age’ is socially constructed. Work is diverse, and not just what happens within a wage relationship. A Citizen’s Income would support a variety of forms of work. Social insurance is risk-sharing, and a Citizen’s Income would also constitute risk-sharing. It deals with risk now in ways that social insurance did sixty years ago.
A global Citizen’s Income is a distant prospect, but borders are breaking down and citizenship is changing. We need to keep alive a big vision.
