“I'm a capitalist, and I believe that universal basic income is necessary for capitalism to
continue.” ~ Andrew Yang
As most of you have probably heard, US presidential hopeful Andrew Yang bowed out of the US presidential
election race a couple of weeks ago.
His main agenda was a $1,000-a-month universal basic income (UBI) for all Americans.
He was extremely popular on social media and with younger people, however the mainstream
American media tended to favour more seasoned candidates.
It seems that “established power” and “reputation” are far more important in
American politics than you know, actual merit.
Based on the current Democratic lineup, it seems that you have to be in your 70s to have
any chance at being nominated, except perhaps for a couple of notable exceptions.
It should be noted that Andrew Yang is still making good on his promise to give 13 Americans
$1,000 a month over the next year.
But apart from that, UBI is pretty much dead in the water in American politics, at least
for the time being.
Germany, however, have apparently slipped under the radar and implemented a UBI-esque
policy into law.
Since 2005, all adult German residents who are unable to make ends meet have been entitled
to the so-called Hartz-IV payment of around €424 (so a bit over AU$700 a month).
However, recipients had to meet some strict requirements.
For example, if you’re not employed, you must look for work, attend all job interviews,
and accept any reasonable work that is offered.
Failure to do so could result in your payment being docked, or even cancelled for a number
of months.
It sounds pretty much like the Australian Newstart allowance where not only are you
paid barely enough to survive, you can also accrue demerits and penalties, and you can
even get into debt.
Just what poor people need — more debt!
German politician and democratic socialist, Dietmar Bartsch, had previously criticised
the Hartz IV program saying that,
“The program plunges people and their families into the abyss and instils fear about their
payments being taken away.”
Yeah, pretty much sounds like the current Australian welfare system.
Anyway, late in 2019, the German supreme Court ruled that the terms of the Hartz IV policy
were unconstitutional.
Essentially they ruled that a 100% penalty would constitute an undue hardship on recipients,
and thus a violation of human dignity seriously encroaching upon the minimum standard of living
guaranteed by fundamental rights.
The ruling dictates that the maximum the Government are allowed to cut people’s payments is
now 30% no matter what.
You could lie on your sofa and play video games all day long and still receive €300
a month.
On top of this, there is also a housing allowance of approximately €500 (depending on where
you live) and health insurance payments (an estimated €320 per month).
So in total, that’s a guaranteed €1,120 per month for life.
Is this a Universal Basic Income?
It depends how you define it.
If you define it has every adult in the country receiving it, then no, it’s not.
Only people who are in need of assistance receive the payment.
But for those Germans who are unable (or unwilling) to work, then they essentially have a basic
income.
Some of you might be shouting, “This will lead to mass unemployment because nobody will
be incentivised to find work!”.
Well, currently Germany has an extremely low unemployment rate of 3.1% (Australia is currently
sitting at around 5.3%).
Of course, we’ll probably have to wait a year or two before we can fully analyse the
effects of the new German policy, but I suspect it won’t hurt Germany.
What does hurt Germany (or the US, or Australia) is punishing poor people.
That’s our current system in Australia.
Treat people who can’t find work as second-class citizens.
It’s almost as if the Australian Government is making the welfare system as cruel and
punitive as they can possibly get away with.
But I’ve got one piece of advice to the Australian leadership team and I think this
is fitting advice to all people: It’s okay to be nice.