Translator: Michele Gianella Reviewer: Rhonda Jacobs
I am on a mission.
And my guess is, so are some of you.
Because in 2015,
we, as United Nations, 193 countries,
we defined 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
And these goals are so diverse,
that there must be one goal for each and every one of you
that resonates with your heart.
Back in 2015, we also agreed
that we would make these goals happen before 2030.
That means we have a little more than 10 years to go.
So let's get on with it, let's not waste any more time,
and accelerate!
Goal number one: end poverty.
Not reduce it, end it.
But what would be the most efficient way to eliminate poverty?
(Audience response)
Exactly.
The most efficient way to eliminate poverty for once and for all
is a universal, unconditional basic income.
In fact, if you look at the definition of a basic income,
it not only ends poverty,
it also puts an end to hunger,
reduces gender inequalities and inequality in general.
Because a basic income is a periodic cash payment,
paid to every individual,
high enough to meet your basic needs - food, water, clothes, shelter.
No means testing: it doesn't matter if you're rich or poor.
No work requirement.
The only condition you have to meet is being human and alive.
It's as simple as that.
The money goes directly into your hands,
and you can decide freely what to spend it on.
A basic income is a guarantee that whatever happens,
you will never fall through the bottom of the poverty line.
And then, the poverty line becomes a stable floor.
A stage from where you can flourish,
from where you can decide
what you will do with your time and energy.
So yes, by definition alone,
a basic income already contributes
to four of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
But guess what?
There is so much more.
We know, from basic income pilots
and cash transfer programs around the world,
that a basic income has impressive positive effects
on a variety of domains.
Take crime, for instance:
in all countries, many crimes are poverty-related, right?
Well, in Namibia, for example,
we saw a decrease of total crime rates by 30 percent,
within one year when people received a basic income.
Thirty percent!
With an impressive decline in illegal hunting.
You can look at health: what are the effects on people's health?
Well, people change their eating patterns,
they eat healthier food because they can afford it.
Sanitation improves
in countries where these facilities are not sufficiently available.
Are you stressed?
You'll be delighted to hear
that a basic income reduces stress and stress-related health issues.
Confirmed, again,
by the recent experiments in Canada,
where almost 90 percent reported less stress;
and in Finland,
where we also see that people become healthier and happier
when they receive a basic income.
A basic income contributes to decent work.
Decent work? What is decent work?
We're obedient workers, aren't we?
Isn't that decent enough?
No, decent work means no more child labor.
Decent work means no more exploitation.
People get the freedom to say, "No,"
or, "No, thank you very much," if you want to be polite.
But you can have the freedom to say "No"
to employers who don't treat you well.
People start their own businesses.
They choose work and activities that are meaningful to them.
You can choose activities.
You can call it work,
but you can choose activities that are meaningful to you
when you have a basic income.
It even contributes to community participation.
People become more caring for others, compassionate.
Education.
Children stay in school longer.
We saw that in India and many other countries.
In countries like the Netherlands, students will not graduate with a debt.
And if you're in your 40s and you want to change career,
with a basic income it is much easier to work less hours or quit your job,
so you have time to learn new skills and really change direction.
So yes, if you look at the definition of a basic income
and the evidence gathered in basic income experiments
and cash transfer programs around the world,
you will see that a basic income alone
contributes to 11 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
Eleven, with one simple intervention.
Eleven, with one simple intervention!
OK, great - let's do that, fantastic.
But who is going to pay for this?
Or, should I ask, what is going to pay for this?
Let's have a look at innovation and see if we can find some answers there.
Innovation is a tricky one.
Production and logistics became so efficient
that fewer and fewer people earn more and more,
while more and more people are struggling to survive
because they lost their paid job because of automation.
The gap between the ultra-rich and the poor
is growing faster than we've ever seen before.
Ninety percent of the wealth generated in 2018
went to one percent of the people.
And the ultra-rich protect their position through things like intellectual property.
That raises the question: can you really own knowledge?
In my opinion, there is no such thing as intellectual property.
We have a collective consciousness, and the Internet.
Intellectual property is nothing more
than a business model based on exclusion of others.
It's based on competition, an I-win-you-lose mentality.
Well, I prefer collaboration.
And times are changing.
The technologies of today enable us to think and act very differently.
We can redesign the future ourselves.
If we build the machines
and we program the algorithms for the world of tomorrow,
then we can decide what our world of tomorrow will look like.
Machines have no intrinsic motivation
to earn money or accumulate wealth,
have they?
Unlike most humans,
machines have no intrinsic motivation to earn money or accumulate wealth.
So let's free the machines from their human owners.
Let's liberate them and make them part of the commons.
Let's create infrastructures of machines that are not owned by anyone -
or owned by all of us, if you like.
Let them generate value
and distribute it to the people as a basic income.
Would that be possible with the technologies of today?
Or is it just my crazy dream?
May I tell you a little story?
Once upon a time, not so far from here,
Paul, an artist, and his friend Max, a computer programmer,
they bought a piece of forest,
and they called it terra0.
And they wanted to investigate
if this forest could own and utilize itself.
And they started coding on the blockchain.
They programmed a smart contract, a set of rules programmed into code.
And this contract stated
that the forest, the non-human actor, or the computer program
could buy terra0 shares from Paul and Max,
so-called "tokens" registered on the blockchain.
Another smart contract orders a satellite image from terra0
every six months.
A computer program analyzes the image and defines the trees
that can be harvested without damaging the forest too much.
Then the forest starts trading.
Licenses to cut the trees are sold.
With the money that comes in, the non-human actor, the computer program,
the forest, buys terra0 shares
from Paul and Max, all fully automated.
Once payment is complete, Paul and Max hold no more tokens.
So the forest is the sole shareholder of its own economic unit.
The forest, in economic terms, controls itself
and can start trading on its own.
Paul and Max really exist.
Paul is actually two persons, Paul Seidler and Paul Kolling.
Max is Max Hampshire.
Terra0 also really exists.
It's a piece of forest 30 kilometers east of Berlin.
Once the forest is a sole shareholder of its own economic unit,
then something really interesting happens.
Because now we have a forest taking care of itself,
selling its own trees.
Money comes in.
But it has no urge to keep it.
The forest has no intrinsic motivation to keep the money.
So we can program it to buy more forest from human owners who are willing to sell.
And, of course, we can also program it
to distribute part of the surplus to the people, to us, as a basic income.
How cool is that?
A forest taking care of itself, selling its own trees,
and giving us a basic income.
How long would it take
to have enough basic income to meet our basic needs?
It would probably take a while: trees won't grow that fast.
Can we speed up the process a little bit and combine it with other things?
What about batteries on wheels, for example?
What if we build infrastructures of batteries on wheels,
electric cars that are not owned by anyone, are part of the commons?
They can be used for transport of humans or goods.
And when they're not driving,
they can deliver their energy to places where energy is needed.
People will pay a small fee,
which will be lower than what we're used to
because no profit-based companies are involved.
And this money can be used for maintenance of the system,
to grow the system, produce or buy more cars,
integrate new technologies.
We'll have modular cars,
so people can choose which car they want to drive today.
You can choose which car drives you home today.
And maybe tomorrow, you will want to drive another car.
So people will understand very quickly that it is much better not to own a car
as long as you have one available when you need it.
And when the system is big enough,
we can distribute part of the surplus to the people as a basic income.
So where shall we start?
Let's say we start in the Netherlands,
a small country with a dense population and high-quality roads,
even in rural areas.
Let's say we start here, in Amstelveen and in Nijmegen,
where I live.
We let the system grow
until we meet the needs of the people in the two cities.
And when we reach that threshold,
we start distributing part of the surplus
to all citizens of the country.
More cities will follow.
And these cars will be all over the place.
And when we reach a state
where we have enough basic income to meet our basic needs,
we can distribute part of the surplus to people in other countries.
By that time, more countries will already have adopted this idea.
And together, we can generate enough capital
to distribute a basic income for mankind, slowly but surely and gaining speed.
Because you can do this with a forest,
with batteries on wheels, solar panels, fishing boats, irrigation systems, art.
And if you can buy a tree directly from a forest,
how difficult can it be to buy the egg directly from a chicken?
And it can be done
with the technologies of today and a little bit of guts.
So I kindly advise you to join me on this mission.
We can all win.
(Applause)