#ubi

[ralfmaximus]

A Seattle-area guaranteed basic income pilot gave low-income residents $500 a month to help reduce poverty. Employment in the group nearly doubled, and numerous unhoused residents secured housing. The Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County launched a 10-month guaranteed basic income pilot program with 102 participants in fall 2022. New findings by research firm Applied Inference reveal that the $5,000 total payments improved participants' quality of life, housing, and employment outcomes.

Oh gosh look: another successful UBI pilot program.

Not only was employment doubled in the test group, their savings increased, and health & life insurance coverage tripled. Many participants got health insurance for the first time.

It's time to roll this out nationwide and with more money. The return on investment is undeniable and would be huge if it applied to everyone.

[liberalsarecool]

UBI works. 88% success rate.

[azspot]

So the city decided that all of the $1 million in basic-income funds would go to a single, vulnerable group: formerly incarcerated residents.

Many taxpayers were not happy about this. As the program neared its launch in March 2022, Middleton's inbox and mailbox were flooded with messages filled with epithets. They came from white residents in the more conservative counties near Durham to recent transplants from liberal strongholds like New York City and the Bay Area. They demanded to know why the city was underwriting criminals, disincentivizing work with free handouts, and spending public dollars to help people who, in some opinions, might not deserve help.

Middleton's answer to all criticism was steadfast, simple, and by his own admission, "very selfish."

"We're going to have to pay for these people one way or another, either in incarceration, benefits, homeless shelters, whatever it is," he told me. "It seems to me that spending more money up front makes more sense than housing folks, monitoring and feeding them, and taking care of their healthcare in prison."

He encourages skeptical taxpayers to look at universal basic income from the same "selfish point of view." "By virtue of your humanity, your citizenship, and your residency," he added, "there's a certain line we will not allow you to fall under because it's good policy for us."

Though the data is still nascent, basic income has proven to be good policy everywhere it's been tested in America. The Durham program would be one of its greatest tests yet.

[politijohn]

Source

Let’s go

[metamatar]

UBI is not communism. It is a limited, national welfare reform. Barring economic concerns like the inflationary pressures that any gains from UBI will be constantly under threat of and the fact that most UBI pilot programmes are not enough to live on, there's more fundamental problems.

States in the global south will not be able to afford it under the debt burden imposed mostly by the Bretton Woods institutions. Without the transformation of the nature of imperial production and the borders it requires, it will just be another nice thing for imperial core citizens to have.

Fundamentally, a vision that stops at UBI for me, is a post ideological vision of society. It views citizens as disengaged and offers them no power except survival, a payment from the coffers of the very rich to ameliorate pain. A vision of UBI that involves hoping capitalists concede to taxes is very much a bit of noblesse oblige.

Without transforming the relations of production, workers will have no power to organise society. We cannot stop companies from pumping out oil, we cannot stop them dumping effluent into our rivers, we cannot stop them from spying on us, we cannot stop wars being fought for a hungry military industrial complex, we cannot put an end to the profit motive continuing to destroy our lives without power. Without abolishing the wage form as the organising principle of societal relations, capitalists will be the only ones to have the power to determine the world that everyone else lives in.

UBI will help the working class. Please do not view UBI as communism.

[animentality]

[gnome-punk]

Text: When someone asks my political views

Picture of a book titled "Everybody has a house and everybody eats"

[alwaysbewoke]

[themadcapmathematician]

UBI because everyone deserves to have their needs taken care of no matter their demographic or productivity but also UBI bc something no one tells you is almost everyone who doesn't have a full time paying job is simply working one or more full time unpaid jobs

Almost everyone you know who isn't employed, no matter how much society wants you to write them off as lazy or useless, is going to school, managing their health problems (read: practically studying to be a doctor without ever being afforded the luxury of a career), is a craftsman/artisan/musician/writer/etc., is a caretaker for a friend or family member, cares for pets, cares for house plants or a garden, is a homemaker, is a delivery driver, runs errands, volunteers their time to make the world a better place, works constantly to find a job, to fill out government forms and make phone calls, to go to appointments and show up to claim resources, to make sure them and their loved ones are fed, to make sure the bills are sent in on time and the trash is taken out...there's always something to be done for most everyone they just don't get paid for it, their work doesn't exist, they fill this role society would fall apart without or they or someone or something else would simply die without, but they aren't rewarded, they aren't given social power or mobility; society thrives off of their labor going unrecognized and uncompensated and they are left vulnerable to abuse and exploitation and poverty

[bluecat06]

As much as I like Loki series (especially second season) I'm still mad that this isn't just a series about Loki, Mobius and other characters doing stuff in different times.

Like: why is it always about something greater? Why I can't have Marvel series where everything isn't a life-or-death situation?

I want Loki and Mobius being agents together and eating sweets in Ancient Rome or fighting some jerks that want to give the cavemen explosives or something.

[lilyliveredlittlerichboy]

it's time now. it's time to imagine the brightest future you can, and talk about it.

a future where people only work 8 hours a week and everyone's basic needs are met. a future where we are more connected to nature and eat seasonal, local produce. a future where you look out for your neighbours and they look out for you. a future where you actually know who your neighbours are. a future where everyone is just a lot more relaxed and able to do whatever they want to do - this 8 hour working week has given people their lives back and now they're able to make community events, work in community gardens, sing and dance and spend time with their kids, play whatever sport they want, travel, read, create art and music.

People are interacting with each other in good faith again because money as an ulterior motive has all but disappeared. Cus you see a few decades ago they made profits illegal. All money has to be put back into the company and CEOs can take home a salary only, no bonuses and it can't be more than 3x what the lowest paid employee makes. You can go to jail if your company is found to make profits, advertise on a large scale or pay its high ranking members more than what's allowed.

Jail still exists but mostly people go in for financial crimes (greed still exists); drugs are decriminalised and available to use safely. people are not as desperate now so there's been a massive reduction of violent and petty crime and most of the people who still do this are teenagers who get away with a slap on the wrist. police are not armed anymore and are heavily penalised if they abuse their power or hurt a civilian, and their role is more that of mediator, signposter (to community services, social services, and free and accessible healthcare including for mental health) and security. together with the former military they make up an "emergency task force" which are called upon in times of need and crisis, for floods, fires, other such disasters.

the stock market completely collapsed after profits were made illegal and people had to find other ways to figure out what a company was worth: such as how they treat their staff or how accessible their processes are. as a result of this, as well as more widespread disability thanks to Covid and an ageing population, accessibility is fucking incredible now. most places are accessible to the vast majority of disabled people even without them having to ask for a single thing. If they have to ask, accommodations are made quickly and without fuss and this is completely normal now. disabled people are more visible than ever in public life and this has led to a generally kinder, more tolerant public life.

Everything is slower now. Social media as we know it died decades ago and Internet 4.0 is efficient, will find you accurate answers and the websites you're looking for very easily and fast. there's monopoly laws restricting how large companies operate online. online ads are all but illegal - there's "phone book" esque pages where you can promote your business or service and that's allowed but not anywhere else. Lots of people are still annoying and some of them are still cruel but overall living together as humans has gotten so much more chill. We've tackled climate change and reversed much of it, now it's a global day of mourning whenever a species is found to be extinct through human intervention. these days used to happen much more frequently but it's very rare these days. Most everyone gets the day off and is encouraged to read about the lost species or hold themed funerals. Globally everything has gotten better - there's much more global equality now after a bunch of western/formerly colonising countries almost self destructed and then instead decided to own up for colonialism, pay reparations to a lot of countries in Africa Asia and Latin America, as well as indigenous nations of North America, Oceania, even in Europe. The USA doesn't exist anymore instead its a whole host of separate nations all managed by the native people whose land it is. The UK doesn't exist anymore. England is still sad about it but Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Cornwall are called Cymru, Alba, Eire and Kernow again and they've formed a Celtic Union for better collective bargaining power in the EU (which still exists, somehow. Its better now. England may still be out of the EU I'm not sure). Migration is common and foreigners are welcomed into any country with open arms.

I may try to write something about this. I have a vision for a future and it's so lovely. Here, on earth, with the starting point being now. We have a lot to work with and only a few changes could make such a difference. Demilitarisation, UBI and maximum working hours, greedy financial practices made illegal. Conservation and education on local plants and nature and food. Community building on every level. Giving people their lives back.

This is all extremely possible. If it were up to me, very little in society would be left unchanged but it would all be people friendly changes. changes that aim to support the poorest and most marginalised, changes that aim to punish greed and exploitation. It's a work in progress of course. But I have a vision for a better world and dammit if I'm not going to share it with you.

[liberalsarecool]

Let's have the conversation about UBI.

Let the actual data and facts end the bad faith arguments.

[xinhua-jun]

Happy Birthday to my Little Einstein!

@skullsandcorals 💙💙💙

BONUS:

BONUS II:

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Hamilton, ON, wants to be the best place to raise a child and age successfully. These days, that’s a tall order to fulfill.

But on June 7, Hamilton city council took a major step towards making that vision a reality by voting unanimously to support a Guaranteed Livable Basic Income (GLBI).

The motion, put forward by Ward 15 Councillor Ted McMeekin and seconded by Ward 1 Councillor Maureen Wilson, is proof non-partisan agreement exists for a GLBI.

Full article

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[ireton]

Melissa Ciummei - Universal basic income - Its a tax trap.

[racefortheironthrone]

On the subject of UBI, I always ask about the MCU UBI: Tony is a billionaire who lives a life of luxury, Bruce has a serious chronic illness that requires expensive medical care, and Trevor just wants to sit round all day drinking and doing drugs. I take the UBI guys more seriously if they can say what each man gets from a UBI.

That's a somewhat odd choice of characters to think about how a UBI would function in the MCU.

So yes, Tony Stark would get a UBI. Relative to his private income, his UBI check would be totally inconsequential - and given the level of taxation needed to support a UBI, it's pretty much guaranteed that Tony would be paying far more in taxes than he would be getting back in UBI payments.

This is not an accident or a mistake or a flaw in the system; this is how a healthy social policy should function. When Social Security was established in 1936, FDR made a big deal of the fact that even John D. Rockefeller would get a Social Security check - because it hammered home the point that everyone contributes, and everyone benefits. Reciprocal solidarity would short-circuit the divisive politics of distribution and redistribution and cement a permanent majority coalition in support of a universal welfare state.

Bruce Banner would also get a UBI check. Now, his financial situation is a little unclear - originally, Banner was a top research scientist at Culver University with U.S military contracts, so he would probably have been in the top 10% of incomes (affluent but not wealthy). After his transformation into the Hulk, however, Bruce was a wanted fugitive with no way of earning income.

After that, Bruce was an Avenger - and this is where things get odd. As established in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Avengers in the MCU don't get a salary: Tony gave them free housing and paid their Avengers-related expenses, but Sam Wilson notably relied on his veteran's pension and government contracts for his living (thus why his banker could justify turning him down for a small business loan rather than admitting to structural racial discrimination) and Steve Rogers even with his veteran's benefits, Social Security, and SHIELD salary couldn't afford a place in Brooklyn. This means that, while Bruce doesn't need to worry about money for his research and can save on rent, he does actually need the UBI for everything else.

This is very different from in the comics, where Avengers get quite decent salaries:

$4k a month in 1983 dollars works out to around $150k a year (on top of free housing at the Avengers Mansion), putting them solidly in the top 13% of U.S personal incomes.

As for Trevor Slattery, I feel like your description is unfairly characterizing a working actor. Slattery was not a major success in Hollywood - hence why he took Aldrich Killian up on his job offer and became part of a criminal conspiracy - and he does have some serious substance abuse issues, but what he does in his private life is his own business. Hell, even when he was abducted by the Ten Rings, he kept working as an actor. That being said, Trevor is going to have a hard time getting UBI, both because he's a wanted fugitive and convicted felon (which would end his eligibility in the U.S) and because he's now living in a rural village in another dimension.