by Kate McFarland | Jul 31, 2016 | News
A panel discussion about the effect of basic income on artists and the arts community was held in San Francisco on June 20. The discussion addressed such questions as the following:
- “What kind of impact would basic income have on the creative community?”
- “Are arts groups currently supportive of basic income, or even talking about it?”
- “What’s the best way to get creatives involved in the basic income movement?”
Participants included Alexis Frasz of Helicon Collaborative, Aaron Perry-Zucker of the Creative Action Network, Tania Ku Infinity Pictures, and Rebeka Rodriguez of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
A video recording of the panel discussion is available on YouTube.
Photo: “Painted Ladies We Love” from the Hearts in San Francisco art installation (2009); Wally Gobetz (flickr).
by Kate McFarland | Jul 29, 2016 | News
The AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations), the largest federation of trade unions in the United States, does not currently endorse basic income in its official platform or plan for action. However, some of its leaders have recently expressed support.
Cathy Feingold, the AFL-CIO’s Director of International Affairs, was asked in a recent interview: “Is a global basic income something you could throw on the agenda as well?” In reply, she stated:
We are trying. And I think that we understand that there are way too many workers around the world who work day-in and day-out but still cannot provide for their families – and that’s a crime [1].
In addition to Feingold, William Spriggs, Professor of Economics at Howard and Chief Economist at the AFL-CIO, expressed support for a universal basic income last month in a tweet, in which he states “I personally prefer a universal basic income policy to a universal guaranteed job” (in response to an inquiry from Scott Santens).
[1] “Voices from the supply chain: an interview with Cathy Feingold,” Beyond Trafficking and Slavery, openDemocracy; July 25, 2016.
Note that this is the extent of the exchange on basic income, and it is unclear exactly what definition of ‘basic income’ Feingold and the interviewer have in mind.
Cathy Feingold Photo CC International Transport Workers
Thanks, as always, to my supporters on Patreon!
by Kate McFarland | Jul 26, 2016 | News
On Wednesday, July 27, basic income advocate Scott Santens is to speak on basic income at a Rock the Vote event held in conjunction with the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where delegates are presently convening to nominate the party’s candidate for President of the United States.
The following is an abstract of Santens’ talk, which is scheduled for 10:25-10:40am EST:
A basic income is an income unconditionally granted to all on an individual basis, without means test or work requirement. It would be paid to individuals rather than households; paid irrespective of any income from other sources; and, paid without requiring the performance of any work or the willingness to accept a job if offered. Social policy and economic policy can no longer be conceived separately, and basic income is increasingly viewed as the only viable way of reconciling two of their respective central objectives: poverty relief and full employment.
This event was organized by the World Technology Network (WTN), under the auspices of Rock the Vote, after the DNC cancelled initial plans for a universal basic income panel at the convention.
Santens’ talk on basic income is one of five technology-related sessions convened by the WTN for Tuesday and Wednesday as part of Rock the Vote’s Truth to Power campaign, designed to engage and mobilize young people for political action in the 2016 election.
Tuesday’s sessions include a panel on technological unemployment (with Richard Eskow, Kevin LaGrandeur, Jonathan Lyons, and James Clark, and moderator James Hughes) and a panel discussion of the startup market and entrepreneurism, featuring members of the non-profit organization Innovation for Jobs.
On Wednesday, Santens’ presentation will be immediately preceded by a 25-minute talk on blockchain currencies by Northwest Passage Ventures CEO Alex Tapscott, and immediately followed by a 20-minute panel on the failure of the War on Poverty and how to address it (featuring Catherine Beane, Eric Tars, and moderator Joy Moses).
For more information about the event, see the following pages:
– Democratic Convention “Rock the Vote” Tech Series hosted by the World Technology Network (Facebook Event Page).
– Rock the Vote presents Truth to Power: Daytime Activations.
Image Credit Kristin Brenemen
by Kate McFarland | Jul 24, 2016 | News
The basic income panel discussion that was to be held at the Democratic National Convention, as previously reported on Basic Income News, has been cancelled by the DNC. The panel had previously been scheduled for the morning of Monday, July 25, and was to feature Scott Santens, Jason Pontin, and Guy Standing.
Details concerning the decision to cancel the discussion are not known at this time.
Sources: Scott Santens, Guy Standing; personal communication.
“Donkeys Around Town” photo credit: Cocoabiscuit.
by Kate McFarland | Jul 24, 2016 | News, Testimonies
Harmony Hackney describes herself as a “housewife and quasi-revolutionary who went to school for motorcycle repair, where she went $9k into debt to learn how to read the manual, and an Associate in Science in paralegal studies, where she went $15k in debt to learn how to read the manual.” Since neither motorcycle repair nor paralegal work panned out as a career, Harmony now studies the history of her home state of Florida and “the nine generations of Floridians who came before her.” She plans to publish a book on the subject in the near future.
In this Basic Income Interview, Harmony was asked how she learned of basic income and why she supports it. Here is her reply:
I was looking for alternatives to the way the majority of us struggle each day and only manage to accomplish the barest levels of survival for our cultures. Since we have an abundance of things, but not an abundance of consumers, basic income seems like the most reasonable solution.
I support a basic income because it’s cheaper and more effective than our current process. My family has never been very well off; we’ve only ever managed minimal survival. My parents would work two and three jobs and we still couldn’t climb any higher. So we had to rely on assistance. For each piece of the process we had to go to a different office, fill out tons and tons of forms, get mailed tons of forms, mail back tons of forms, and spend a lot of time just waiting to fill out more papers or turn in more papers. That was back before the internet, but honestly the process hasn’t changed much. It’s still a series of separate offices, separate parts of the government, and separate places to fill out and turn in various forms. Now think about the cost of all that. How much is it costing to manage all of those forms and papers and all of that redundant information? And all of this serves no other purpose other than prevent just handing money to people.
We have entire sections of our government doing nothing but acting as a middleman between money and people who need money. When you go down and file for food assistance, you fill out all your forms, get approved, and they give you a card with a sum on it. Only that sum is in a special currency so that you don’t get real money. An entire section of government is devoted to calculating, managing, overseeing, enforcing, investigating, and distributing this special currency, which is additionally regulated so that it can only be used for these specific things. In addition, we have a whole other section of government that then collects this special currency, with all the bureaucracy that entails, who then redistributes the special currency as money. Imagine how much we could save if we simply eliminated all the extra stuff and just handed everyone a set amount of money.
And more than just saving money, we could save our environment as well. Think about how much we produce that gets thrown away because people couldn’t buy it. But we have to keep producing at that amount, and work to produce even more, so that we can make enough to live on. In addition to that, most of our jobs are make-work. It’s work that’s created just to say you are working. We have an abundance of fast food, retail, and other service jobs that can easily be automated. But we don’t because low wage workers are cheaper, and because we have been conditioned to believe that our existence is only justified if we are part of the workforce.
Most of my free time is spent studying and writing about history. I’ve discovered some very fascinating things that no one else has had the time to research. I’m being encouraged by other history professionals to continue my work and eventually publish my findings. Unfortunately, I’ve reached a point where I have to go to where records are in order to complete my research. Since we live paycheck to paycheck, with nothing to spare, I can’t finish my research. This is why it bugs me when someone says that a basic income will make people lazy. I’m not lazy now. Why would I suddenly become lazy just because I can choose to prioritize my time to suit me instead of a corporate machine?
Photo used by permission of Harmony Hackney
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.
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