9th International Basic Income Week 19-25 September 2016
Discussions and open forums have been held around the world. Find one in your area, join and follow the discussion.
What Is Basic Income?
Basic income is money/resources unconditionally granted to an individual, without requirement, on a regular basis.
Basic income is not a new concept and has been around in its current intention for over 30 years. As an example, the Basic Income Network in Europe was founded in 1986 to serve as a link between individuals and groups committed to, or interested in, basic income; and fosters informed discussion on this topic through Europe. It extended its scope from Europe to the rest of the world in 2004.
Robert Reich 'The Inevitability of Unconditional Basic Income'
My Philosophy
I will provide my own philosophy, from the perspective that I have lived the gift economy for most of my life, and professionally for 13 years and more.
Earth's Nature - The earth gifts everything to sustain a thriving life - free. The earth naturally produces and gifts all her abundant natural resources: pure primal water, clean air, natural organic food, and free energy. Man is who has monetized these natural resources, and not in a manner available to all. Man has assumed he owns the earth; her land, her air, her plants, her people, her resources etc. Yet, I promise you, she is a living being, and she doesn’t require man to sustain her own life. Humanity is a species racing its own extinction.
Every living being, creature, plant, all... is a creation of earth, and is why we call her mother. Inheritance of earth’s resources is inherent to all naturally born on earth. Earth graces us with life the moment of our first breath! We each share the same symbiotic, equity relationship with the earth.
The Heart's IQ - There is something profound that occurs when you lead your life by your heart, you make choices in congruent with your core values and ethics honoring your talents, skills, and what makes you genuinely happy. You can follow what interests you, you discover what you are good at, what you enjoy; you develop your natural skills, genuine talents, and find yourself aligning with your authentic self. You also naturally attract, and are attracted towards, like-minded people, places, education, wisdom, resources, experiences, synchronicity, blessings, lessons, and more – stories pen cannot write or relay. Fulfillment of life is the benefit result because you are following that which inspires you, leads you, evolves you, excites you, drives you, enlivens your imagination and grows the development of your creative expression in life, as a contribution to humanity. And when life’s valleys occur, which they will, as life deals us all despair, sorrow and grief; there is a natural ability to walk through the suffering with grace because you have sovereignty over the direction of your life. When you follow your heart, your will is in alignment with the Divine Will of creation, hence the result is enjoyment of life, and the ability to walk through life’s storms receiving them as experiences, utilizing them as fertilizer feeding and nurturing the greater good, for yourself and also for others.
Charles Eisenstein 'Sacred Economics'
Modeling Nature - This is the basis of my philosophy for universal basic income to every child born on earth. This is where equity, dignity, and value be a natural occurrence. Man made up the game of money. Money doesn’t occur in nature. Human beings, as intelligent compassionate beings, can choose how to live in harmony with nature, while honoring our collective mother’s nature. All the while, being more congruent with our own humane nature. Every child is a citizen of earth, naturally born, sovereign to her inherent virtues, gifts of life, we each share equal inheritance to basic needs, our human sovereign rights at birth. Air. Food. Water. Shelter. Relationship. Creative Expressions of Art (labor, work, jobs become redefined in the above philosophy).
Integrity (wholeness) - Through my own experiences of life, I have discovered the only time people step out of integrity with themselves/others, is when they are in lack; survival mode in the four (4) basic areas of life: shelter, food, relationship, creative expression (colonialism/capitalism describes it as labor/job/work).
Basic income is modeling nature's IQ, and why it should be unconditionally granted to every individual, without requirement, on a regular basis. As stewards of life, we have a privilege and a responsibility to live in harmony with mother earth, with one another; no longer violating her life, nor monetizing it against our brothers and sisters.
The world will see peace restoring in every part of the world, we will experience the environment restoring, we will witness innovation, joy, cooperation - a beauty full future. War will cease to exist.
There is more than enough resources to fulfill basic needs for all, to live a thriving healthy fulfilling life; without plundering mother earth of her body parts, her organs, her immune system, the things she requires to sustain our lives.
We already live in paradise, may we choose to mirror what we have already been gifted.
There are great benefits of basic income (universal basic income 'UBI'), and I encourage you to do your own research. I have provided links, for your reference below.
UnifyEvolution.info Cultures of Peace is dedicated to curating evolutionary best practices and solutions, facilitating a global transition, for good and this includes 'Basic Income' as a fundamental principal of what we model. If you would like to apply for the BETA of 'Basic Income' with us, please apply within BeautifulExchange, humanitarian funding, for stewards of life!
The evidence it works!
Alaska (Alaskan PFD)
Namibia (BIG Pilot Project)
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina (Casino revenue)
Hough, Juliette, and Becky Rice. "Providing personalized support to rough sleepers." York, JRF (2010).
Canada's Healthy Baby Prenatal Benefit (note: no strings resulted in babies born healthier)
Democratic Republic of Congo(note: decreased pregnancy rates)
Kuwait 2011 (note: increased non-oil GDP through higher consumer spending)
Experimental summary papers:
Nobel Prize winners in support of basic income:
Other economists:
Yanis Varoufakis (Former Greek Minister of Finance, Prof of Economic Future, Athens) VIDEO
Umair Haque, @umairh (Harvard Business School Economist)
Erik Brynjolfsson, @erikbryn (MIT Economist, Author, "Race Against the Machine")
J. K. Galbraith (American economist)
Robert Skidelsky (note: skip to the section "Working Less") (Economic historian and professor emeritus of political economy)
Guy Standing (video: Why the Precariat Requires a Basic Income) (British economist)
Daniel Raventos (Spanish economist)
Philosophers:
Bertrand Russell (note: see the last paragraph of chapter IV for a summary)
John Stuart Mill (Chapter I: Of Property § 4) (British philosopher)
Phillipe Van Parijs (Philosopher and left-libertarian economist)
Politicians and activists:
Martin Luther King Jr. (American pastor, activist, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement) VIDEO
Desmond Tutu (former Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, and anti-apartheid activist; winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984)
Robert Reich (former United States Secretary of Labor)
Charles Murray [PDF] (American libertarian political scientist)
Hugh Segal (Canadian politcal commentator and former senator)
Charles Eisenstein, author 'Sacred Economics' (video: "A BI gives us the freedom to act on our desire to give")
Edward Snowden (former NSA contractor who leaked information about their overbearing surveillance practices)
Ralph Nader (Green Party and Independent presidential candidate)
Federico Pistono (author of Robots Will Steal Your Job, But That's OK)
Bernie Sanders (US Senator D-VT)
Health professionals:
The Canadian Medical Association (Delegates' Motion 5-16, on page 11 or the pdf page 18)
Banking models:
Mother Earth Trust, Earth Dollar - In harmony with nature
Media coverage:
Financial Times (note: mirror of paywalled article)
Washington Post (an abridged reprint of this excellent article from De Correspondent)
Extended audio/video discussions:
Milton Friedman (negative income tax)
Guy Standing (lecture about basic income)
Philippe van Parijs (lecture about basic income)
David Graeber and Barbara Jacobson (discussing basic income)
Swiss Basic Income Initiative documentary (in German with English subtitles)
Blog posts:
FiveThirtyFive (article)
A series of posts from Economonitor: What are the economic arguments for basic income, can we afford it, different political perspectives on it
Various posts from Pieria: Creative destruction, basic income and the jobs of the future
Books:
Amazon Listmania list by /u/2noame 40 books about or involving a basic income
Academic Papers:
Facebook:
Basic Income LA (Los Angeles) (event)
Basic Income NYC (New York City)
Global Basic Income
we invite you to search social media for more...
Misc:
It's also very simple to contact your local politician or local newspaper to press the case for Basic Income, or an article on the subject.
You can also advocate for Basic Income online by using the #BasicIncome hashtag and sharing updates from these social media accounts.
It's been shown that ideas spread most effectively from family members and friends, so start talking about Basic Income to everyone you know! Be the Change!
Sources:
You can read more about basic income supporters from the past 240 years on the European Unconditional Basic Income website: (UBIE.ORG)