ONE OF THE BIG PICTURE PROGRESSIVE IDEAS THAT HAS BEEN
OFTEN THEORIZED AND DISCUSSED BUT RARELY PUT INTO PRACTICE IS
THE IDEA OF A BASIC INCOME, BUT ANOTHER EXPERIMENT IN BASIC
INCOME IS ABOUT TO BE STARTED RIGHT NOW IN FINLAND WHERE THEY
WILL BE TESTING IT OUT WITH ABOUT 2000 OF THEIR CITIZENS.
THE BASIC INCOME IDEA CAN COME IN MANY DIFFERENT FORMS, BUT THE
BASIC IDEA IS THAT PEOPLE WILL RECEIVE GOVERNMENT MONEY, LIKE A
FORM OF A WELFARE PAYMENT OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, REGARDLESS
OF EMPLOYMENT STATUS, A SORT OF MINIMUM INCOME THEY WILL
RECEIVE.
IN SOME EXPERIMENTS IT IS NOT FOR EVERYBODY, IN THIS
CASE IT WILL BE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE UNEMPLOYED, AND THERE ARE
VARIOUS WAYS TO ORGANIZE IT.
BUT THE IDEA IS THAT YOU CAN TO SOME
EXTENT MINIMIZE INCOME INEQUALITY, STIMULATE THE
ECONOMY, AND HELP PEOPLE OUT WHO ARE HURTING THE MOST BY
PROVIDING A MINIMUM INCOME BELOW WHICH THEY WILL NOT FALL.
AND TO
SOME EXTENT WE DO THIS ALREADY, YOU CAN RECEIVE HOUSING AND FOOD
ASSISTANCE, ASSISTANCE ON YOUR HEALTHCARE, WE SIMPLY MAKE IT
TARGETED TO SPECIFIC THINGS IN AMERICA AND MANY OTHER COUNTRIES
RATHER THAN A BASIC INCOME THAT IS REGARDLESS OF WHAT IT IS
GOING TO BE SPENT ON.
THAT IS THE FORM THEY WILL BE TAKING --
BY THE WAY IN THIS CASE THAT INCLUDES UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
THAT THEY ARE RECEIVING.
ONE OF THE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE
CREATION OF THIS --
THE BASIC IDEA IS THAT RIGHT NOW IF YOU ARE RECEIVING
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS AND YOU SEE A JOB THAT IS SHORT-TERM OR
DOESN'T PAY VERY WELL YOU MIGHT NOT WANT TO TAKE THAT JOB
BECAUSE YOU WILL LOSE OUT ON THOSE BENEFITS AND MAYBE NOT BE
ABLE TO GET THEM BACK WHEN THE SHORT TERM OR LOW-PAYING JOB
ENDS, WHEREAS IN THIS CASE IF YOU ARE ALREADY RECEIVING THE
MONEY YOU CAN TAKE THE JOB AND YOU WILL BE OKAY.
IT'S AN INTERESTING EXPERIMENT, I'M CURIOUS TO SEE
HOW IT GOES.
AS YOU MENTIONED EARLIER IT DOESN'T NECESSARILY
WORK FOR ALL COUNTRIES, AND ONE OF MY CONCERNS WAS THE ISSUE OF
INFLATION.
IF YOU HAND PEOPLE MONEY AND THERE ARE MORE
INDIVIDUALS SPENDING, WILL THAT INCREASE INFLATION OR HAVE SOME
NEGATIVE RAMIFICATIONS THAT MAYBE PEOPLE WITH GOOD INTENTIONS
DIDN'T THINK OF AHEAD OF TIME?
I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW HOW
THIS WILL GO, I LIKE THE IDEA OF POLITICIANS IN THE COUNTRY
LOOKING OUT FOR THE PEOPLE AND ENSURING THAT EVERYONE HAS A
DECENT QUALITY OF LIFE, I KNOW SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES HAVE A
LOT OF PROGRESSIVE POLICIES THAT MAKE RIGHT-WING HEADS EXPLODE
HERE IN THE UNITED STATES, BUT STUDY AFTER STUDY SHOWS THAT
THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE IS MUCH BETTER THAN OURS, THEIR OVERALL
HAPPINESS IS BETTER THAN OURS.
SO I LIKE THESE TYPES OF
EXPERIMENTS, AND I'M CURIOUS TO SEE HOW IT PLAYS OUT.
THERE HAVE BEEN OTHERS THROUGHOUT THE LAST FEW DECADES
IN NAMIBIA AND BRAZIL, NORTH CAROLINA EVEN, THE NETHERLANDS.
IT IS NOT NECESSARILY THE SAME THING, BUT ALASKA'S PERMANENT
FUND, WHICH TAKES OIL REVENUE AND GIVES IT OUT TO EVERY
CITIZEN OF ALASKA, SOMETHING LIKE $1000, IS SOMETHING LIKE
THE BASIC INCOME.
ONE CONCERN IS THAT IT COULD LEAD TO PEOPLE
WORKING FEWER HOURS, SOME EXPERIMENTS HAVE SHOWN THAT IT
DOES LEAD TO A REDUCTION IN HOURS WORKED BY 5 TO 7%, I THINK
IF IT MEANS LOWER INCOME INEQUALITY AND PEOPLE AREN'T
STARVING THAT IS NOT NECESSARILY A TERRIBLE THING.
WHAT WE NEED
IS EXPERIMENTS, WE NEED TO RUN IT AND SEE WHAT THE EFFECT IS,
THAT'S WHY IT IS GOOD THAT FINLAND IS DOING IT, BUT I DO
THINK THAT IT IS REALLY WEIRD HOW WE THINK VERY DIFFERENTLY
ABOUT MONEY BEING GIVEN BY THE GOVERNMENT TO A GROUP OF PEOPLE
IF THEY ARE POOR PEOPLE OR IF THEY ARE RICH PEOPLE.
IF IT'S
500 EUROS BEING GIVEN TO SOMEONE WHO IS DEAD BROKE, IT'S LIKE
MAYBE, I DON'T KNOW WHAT EFFECT IT WILL HAVE, MAYBE IT WILL MAKE
THEM LAZY, BUT IF IT IS MASSIVE TAX CUTS FOR THE RICHEST PEOPLE
WHERE WE SHOWER THEM IN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, JUST DO IT, SEE WHAT
HAPPENS, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?
NO ONE IS CONCERNED THAT THE
RICH MIGHT WORK FEWER HOURS IF WE GIVE THEM A TON OF MONEY IN THE
FORM OF TAX CUTS, WE ASSUME THAT THEY WILL KEEP WORKING.
BUT WHEN
IT IS THE POOR, THESE LAZY MOTHERFUCKERS, MAYBE THEY WILL
WORK AN HOUR LESS A WEEK.
THAT IS A WEIRD STEREOTYPE THAT A LOT
OF PEOPLE, EVEN PROGRESSIVES LIKE ME, MIGHT HAVE IF YOU ARE
NOT CONSCIOUSLY THINKING ABOUT IT.
AND ALSO ONE OF THE IDEAS WE
MIGHT WANT TO HAVE IS A LOT OF PEOPLE, EVEN IF THEY CAN FIND
A JOB, ARE LOCKED INTO UNSATISFYING WORK WHERE THEY ARE
NOT NECESSARILY PRODUCING TO THEIR TRUE POTENTIAL.
IF PEOPLE
HAVE A MINIMUM INCOME THEY CAN FALL BACK ON, WHICH BY THE WAY
IS NOT GOING TO BE LUXURIOUS, IT WILL BE A SHITTY WAY TO LIVE,
MAYBE THEY CAN AFFORD TO HOLD OUT FOR A WHILE TO GET AN
EDUCATION OR DO SOMETHING ARTISTIC OR START A BUSINESS
RATHER THAN GRINDING IT OUT IN A MINIMUM WAGE JOB SO THEY
CAN HAVE FOOD.
I THINK CULTURE HAS A LOT TO DO WITH THAT, AND AMERICAN
CULTURE, I DON'T KNOW IF IT IS UNIQUE, BUT THERE IS A LOT OF
EMPHASIS ON WORKING AND MAKING MONEY REGARDLESS OF YOUR QUALITY
OF LIFE, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU FEEL FULFILLED.
IT'S ALL
ABOUT WORK, WORK, MAKE AS MUCH MONEY AS POSSIBLE, IF YOU DON'T
THEN YOU MUST BE LAZY, IF YOU ARE UNHAPPY YOU ARE UNGRATEFUL,
FIRST WORLD PROBLEM -- BUT OVERALL IT IS IMPORTANT FOR US
TO CREATE A SYSTEM THAT NOT ONLY LEADS TO A BETTER QUALITY OF
LIFE FOR EVERYONE, LEADS TO PEOPLE PURSUING EDUCATION AND
PURSUING BETTER OPPORTUNITIES FOR THEMSELVES, BUT A TYPE OF
CULTURE THAT ALLOWS YOU TO ENJOY ELEMENTS OF LIFE THAT HAVE
NOTHING TO DO WITH WORK.
AND I THINK WE'VE MOVED SO FAR AWAY
FROM THAT THAT WE HAVE LOST SIGHT OF WHAT LIVING IS REALLY
ABOUT.
IT'S NOT ABOUT WORKING AND TORTURING YOURSELF JUST SO
YOU CAN MAKE ENOUGH TO PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE.
AND I'M JUST GLAD TO SEE BIG PROGRESSIVE IDEAS THAT MIGHT
SUCCEED OR FAIL AT LEAST BEING TRIED SOMEWHERE IN THE WORLD.
BEING A PROGRESSIVE IS NOT JUST SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT PARTISAN
BULLSHIT OR THE DAY-TO-DAY FIGHT IN GOVERNMENT, WE ARE SUPPOSED
TO BE TRYING TO COME UP WITH SOMETHING BIG THAT CAN CHANGE
THE WAY WE LIVE AND IMPROVE, TO PROGRESS, ACTUALLY.
MAYBE IT HAS TO BE SCANDINAVIA BUT I'M GLAD IT'S HAPPENING.
I HOPE THAT AT SOME POINT SOME COUNTRY SOMEWHERE TRIES
SOMETHING LIKE UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE, SO WE CAN SEE
WHETHER OR NOT IT WORKS, AND THEN MAYBE WE CAN ADOPT IT HERE
IN THE UNITED STATES.
PIE IN THE SKY.
GO GET THAT PIE.
JUST TRY IT SOMEWHERE.
IF IT HAPPENS, WE WILL REPORT ON IT.
SOUNDD CRAZY TO ME.