The amazing METal think tank group I belong to in the US has a meeting this Saturday, tomorrow if you live in the US, and the subject of the 4 hour session is “The Cannabis Business” which is expected to surge to $23 billion in the US by 2022. I will bring you updates.
Around the world, there is a surge of interest in Universal Basic Income, where a government gives a fixed amount of cash, without strings attached, to every citizen. Democratic presidential candidates are exploring a $1,000 basic income for all Americans, India’s opposition Congress Party pledged a basic income for the poor, and Finland recently completed a two-year basic income trial.
Critics say it is unaffordable, un-American to give something for nothing, it is crazy to give to the rich as well as the poor, or it would reduce work and make people lazy. These don’t hold true. There are sensible ways of funding it; it is more efficient to pay everybody and tax the wealthy rather than rely on inefficient, expensive means-testing; and trials show it doesn’t make us work less.
Today the distribution system has broken down. The obstacles to a just society are;
Inequality
Income and wealth inequalities have increased hugely, and more income is captured by owners of financial, physical and intellectual property, leaving average wages to stagnate. Governments have increased subsidies and tax cuts for the wealthy, while cutting social benefits and making them harder to obtain. Inequalities breed resentment, foster social illnesses and slow economic growth. A basic income could modestly reduce inequality, because a flat-rate regular payment represents a larger share of a low-income person’s income than it would for wealthier people.
Economic Insecurity
Today’s economic insecurity is characterized by chronic uncertainty. Everywhere governments have shifted to a “targeting” approach for the poor, through means-testing and behavior-testing. This has made access to benefits much more uncertain for people in need. A basic income would provide basic economic security.
Debt
This stems from inequality, stagnant wages and insecurity. More people are living on the financial edge, with unpaid housing rents, utility bills, high-cost credit cards and even higher-cost short-term loans. Globally, total debt is three times the size of the global economy. Pilot projects around the world show when people have a predictable income, they pay debts and gain more control of their finances.
Stress
This is a global pandemic, with millions suffering from depression, mental illness, suicidal tendencies and physical ailments due to insecurity, debt, job pressures and feelings of inadequacy. Pilots in Canada and Finland showed basic income reduces the intensity and prevalence of stress, with a sharp decline in domestic violence and depression.
Precarity
Millions face a life of unstable labor, doing work that is not recognized or remunerated, without a secure occupation, relying on volatile wages, without benefits. For them, a basic income would offer much-needed respite, making them feel less like beggars.
Robots
People fear robots will displace humans, creating mass unemployment. The current technological revolution is proving very disruptive, intensifying insecurities and worsening inequality, since the income goes mainly to those owning the patents. A basic income would share the gains more widely, cushioning the disruption.
Extinction
Global warming and pollution could lead to extinction. We need high eco-taxes to deter fossil fuel use except the drawback is that taxes are unpopular and a fuel tax is regressive, because the poor pay proportionately more. The route being taken in Canada and Switzerland is to impose high fuel and other eco-taxes and to return the proceeds to the citizenry in the form of “carbon” or common dividends.
Populism
Support for populism, verging on neo-fascism, stems from insecurity, inequality, stress and seeing no future in today’s economic system. A basic income would give people basic security, and make many more feel valued citizens with a stake in democracy.
A basic income would improve social justice, enhance individual and community freedom and provide basic security. Basic income leads people to doing more work that is ecologically and socially desirable, rather than resource-depleting labor. Basic income leads to more care work, more community work and more resource-preserving activity.
I studied hard and worked extremely hard to get to where I am in life. An unemployed university graduate