by George Bangham The ReCivitas project has paid an unconditional basic income to members of a small community in Quatinga Velho, in the state of São Paulo in southern Brazil, since 2008. In early February Basic Income Oxford hosted a talk by the NGO’s co-founder Marcus Brancaglione, at an event introduced by Oxford University professor […]
Basic income on the doorstep
Speech given at Unison West Midlands Region meeting, 25 February 2016 by Barb Jacobson, Basic Income UK Thank you for having me. I realise that with so many attacks going on, it is very hard to lift our heads up out of the muddle and think about what we want for the future. First I […]
“Wheels on the Bus”
The Wheels on the Bus invokes a world of endless commuting where the rain never ends, the flow of people never ebbs, and the turning of the wheels (oh the turning!) never ceases.
Basic Income: How do we get there? Thursday, December 3, 2015
Brian Eno, David Graeber, Frances Coppola will be leading a discussion facilitated by Becca Kirkpatrick from Unison. Brian Eno is a musician, composer, record producer, singer, and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music. He recently spoke about basic income during his John Peel Lecture on Radio 6. David Graeber is an […]
Supply and Demand
The connections between supply, demand and inflation are well-known. However, when a great deal of the work performed by a population is not obviously productive in any way and still gets paid for, shouldn’t this result in inflation? If a lot of the work we do really isn’t productive, i.e. does not do much for the supply-side of things, […]
Tough (the toughest) challenge
If we are serious about basic income we need to be clear on the costs implied – some of those costs may be large enough to give long pause for thought. Immigration is undoubtedly the largest and most pressing of these costs.
‘My life experience was tantamount to worthless’ Freelancing Precariat
by Rebecca Ridolfo© Recently, I saw Guy Standing interviewed on the Keiser Report about his book: A Precariat Charter: From Denizens to Citizens. He is Professor of Development Studies at the University of London and writes about the increasingly precarious nature of modern employment. Pressure is put on wages by the demographics of soaring youth […]
UBI and alcoholism (or other substance addictions): exploring the argument against UBI
During discussions on UBI I have participated in, some sceptics have raised the concerns that guaranteeing income in monetary allowance will contribute to increasing addictions such as alcoholism in society. I agree that there is some true to this argument. Certainly, if the entire system of accompanying people with addictions will not change, we can […]
Immigration & Technology
The logic in arguments against immigration often runs up against the realities produced by the huge technological advances currently underway in production. Are jobs finite and being ransacked by foreigners? Or are there always going to be jobs, whatever the drive of technological advancements? UKIP Party Conference (Opening Speech) This is not an essay on the […]
Basic Income: Can we afford *not* to have it?
There was an almighty kerfuffle a few weeks ago over over the Green Party’s plans for Citizen’s Income. Many articles have come out both for and against, but all have missed the key question: can we afford not to have a basic income?
Consider the costs of poverty:
Recent Comments