Universal Basic Income.
In a nutshell, the concept is if a basal amount of currency is distributed to all families and individuals, enough for them to live plus a little extra, then people are less likely to fall into criminal activity, have significant health issues or to quit school earlier than they should.
To many, it kinda sounds like a form of communism and in some respects, it is and we have heard about how communism has destroyed innovation and business growth in communist countries over history.
So why is Universal Basic Income a good thing now?
Well, right now, as I mentioned in previous blogs, we are approaching a time when computer systems and artificial intelligence can do most of our jobs better than we can, and be creative enough to continue scientific progress and improve technologies (and themselves) better than us. We're not quite there yet, but Ray Kurzweil's Singularity event is expected to arrive in about 10 years or so, and our world is already abuzz about self-driving cars, personable and intelligent chatbots and smart anticipatory virtual assistants now in 2017.
We'll definitively hit a wall as far as an economy without most adults actually working for a living...
I talk about some of the impacts of all this in the video below:
Governments are quite aware of the dilemma and some more progressive governments have started trials of Basic Income already.
In Finland, 2,000 unemployed Fins will receive in 2017 a monthly amount of $580 USD, replacing their social security payments. Contrary to social security though, there is minimal administration around the amount since there are no conditions attached. This means if the unemployed individuals do find work, of any kind, they continue to receive the amount. This is a two year pilot.
In Ontario, Canada, the people of the cities of Hamilton, Lindsay and Thunder Bay are participating in a three year pilot project where each individual would receive approximately $1,000 USD per month for living, replacing social programs if any of them were receiving any. This pilot is limited to individuals aged between 25 and 64, the age at which people receive "old age security" income however. But on a total population of close to 1,000,000 between the three cities, that's quite a lot of money dispensed in exchange for much less saved (payments in social security systems etc..).
Following suit, Quebec, Canada wishes to introduce a similar program starting in the next few years but in this case, if it is approved, it would not be a pilot project, but go directly live in the Canadian province.
Other countries in Europe are also considering this.
Why now though? Governments and politicians are not that farsighted are they? Well, not really. The increase in automation and the investments in A.I. just tipped things over really. It has been well known for years that social systems were really not working out for people and thanks to past pilots on basic income, they already knew that long term, it is a financial win, even though in the short term it is very, very expensive to get started.
Based on specialists, the installation of Universal Basic Income into modern society will not only save loads of money and stress in our economy but also encourage creativity and business innovation too. Just a small reduction in state costs in health and education plus the advantage of having healthier, better educated, happier people with proper resources to reach for the stars is enough, long term to offset the cost of such a program.
In a very real way, we're looking at a potential way to end poverty quite entirely this is great!
The articles below discuss the details of how it all works in the economy and socially way better than I. Hope you enjoy the read as much as I did. Suffice to say, Basic Income is not there yet, but with so many countries around the world doing serious budgeted pilots, and technology moving forwards at breakneck speeds, there is no doubt in my mind that we'll all stop worrying about basic monthly bills very soon.
Must read articles:
- Robot Tax or Universal Basic Income: How do we manage our automated future?
- Could Universal Basic Income Be The "Social Vaccine" of the 21st Century?
- The Era of Ownership is Ending
- This is Why Experts Think All People Should Have a Universal Basic Income
Enjoy the reads.
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