Imagine a world in which you do not need to make a living.
In ancient Greece, labor was considered an occupation unworthy of citizens. For this there were slaves - and the citizens could devote themselves to art, science and war. There was a certain logic in this - at least, it was the Hellenes who founded the foundation of the whole of modern Western civilization.
Nowadays, fortunately, the general level of economic development and the automation of labor make it possible to approach the Greek idyll without slavery. Therefore, it is not surprising that ideas from the past come back in a new area: in this post we will talk about the concept, Basic income, the idea of ​​providing all citizens with guaranteed and unconditional basic income.
Translation of smartprogress.do service specifically for "Megamind"
Basic income ( unconditional basic income, basic income ) is a social concept, according to which a citizen is paid a monetary satisfaction regardless of whether he has a job or not. Now many employees hold on to their place, go to an unloved job, suffer bullying from their boss, and experience stress from their own lack of implementation. Fear of being left without means of existence hampers the beginning of the business of all life, and the database could give people more opportunities for self-realization and achievement of goals that are really important to them.
')
An ardent supporter of the dissemination of this concept and co-founder of the World Basic Income Network ( BIEN ), Guy Standing, professor at the University of London, notes in his book about the growth of a new class that is not economically protected. In an interview with the Russian Planet , Standing explained the basics of this theory.
One of the consequences of globalization and the shift of power towards the financial sector is the emergence of a multi-level class structure that overlaps with the entire global economy. In the modern world, according to Standing, there are five main classes: plutocracy, salariate, old proletariat, prekariat, and lumpen.
At the top, he believes, is the plutocracy - the oligarchs and other elite. Immediately under the plutocrats and elites is the salariate — people with long-term job security, bonuses, pensions, health insurance, and everything else. Below that is the old proletariat. The Soviet system, and the socially-oriented states of Western Europe were built just for the needs of the proletariat, however, in the course of global production of capital, the layer of the proletariat is reduced. Under the proletariat, the prekariat arises and grows (from the English precarious - risky, unstable). Below the prekariat - only the poor, lumpenized people living and dying on the streets without communication with society.
Standing notes three features of the prekariat:
If you get a "gray" salary - hopes for a comfortable retirement are small. According to Standing, the only ones who receive good pensions are the salariate. Indirectly, out of wages, they get a lot more than anyone else. In contrast to salariate, prekarians have no other income than salary, which strongly depends on their position in the labor market. In addition, they do not control their development, and rather do not have social and labor rights, because they are also in the shadow economy or on the border with it.
Supporters of guaranteed income want to tie benefits not to work as such, but to citizenship. Every resident who, in their opinion, is not a criminal, should be entitled to basic guarantees so that people can manage their lives, get an education, have food and a roof over their heads.
According to the professor, a campaign to collect signatures in support of the introduction of the Basic Income - EU Initiative was organized in 17 EU countries. When recruiting a million signatures for the year, the European Union will have to conduct a feasibility study and launch pilot projects.
Due to what is planned to form a fund to pay guaranteed income:
Head of a person without and with a basic income
Naturally, such a concept has not only advantages in the form of poverty reduction and increase, but also constraints.
First, the nightmare of the capitalist, about the fact that the employee refuses to do hateful work, goes to study or devotes time to the family, does not give rest to many.
Secondly, many are frightened by the disappearance of a person who receives, albeit a minimal, but guaranteed income, motivation for further work and his transformation into a dependent.
And thirdly, where to get money for such an act of goodwill? It's no secret that such programs are expensive.
Despite the most ardent skeptics around the world are pilot programs for the introduction of a guaranteed income. The most famous experiment was conducted in Canada in the 1970s and lasted five years.
In Dauphin, Manitoba, it was decided to eradicate poverty and introduce the program “a city without poverty”. Everyone who was at risk of falling below the poverty line received monthly payments without any obligations. Unfortunately, the project was closed after the conservatives came to power, and all the researchers who worked on the experiment: anthropologists, sociologists, economists — lost their money and working hours to analyze the experimental data. And only many years later, in 2005, Canadian professor Evelyn Forge learned about the existence of these archival documents, a few years later she was given access to them. Professor Forge's team studied all the experimental data, and as it turned out, he was very successful.
Forget discovered that young mothers and teenagers worked significantly less. Mothers with newborns stopped working to give time to babies, teenagers worked less because they no longer needed to provide for their families. However, the number of adolescents receiving higher education has increased. Those who continued to work had more opportunities to find a job for the soul or to continue their education, which many men did. Forget found out that during the project the visits to the hospital decreased by 8.5 percent, the number of emergency aid incidents, car accidents and domestic violence decreased. In addition, during this period, a reduction in the rate of psychiatric hospitalization and the number of consultations related to mental illness were found.
The experiment in the village of Namibia was also recognized as successful. During the year, residents were given 100 Namibian dollars (about 8 US dollars). The result is a reduction in poverty, a decrease in crime rates, and an increase in the economic activity of residents.
Pilot projects were also launched in Brazil , India , Kenya and other countries.
In the US, the ideologist of the basic income is Scott Santens. To draw attention to the concept of Santens launched a crowdfunding company to raise funds for its own basic income of $ 1,000 a month. Scott is also the author of the idea of twittering posts with the hashtag #mybasicincome , where the authors write what they would do if they had it.
In the autumn of 2013, at a referendum in Switzerland for six months , a record number of signatures was collected - 126 thousand in support of the introduction of basic income, which would guarantee each Swiss a direct payment of 2,500 francs (about 2,000 euros), regardless of whether he has a job or not. According to estimates, it will cost Switzerland 200 billion francs a year against the 70 billion that the state spends on social benefits now - and this is without taking into account the cost of the bureaucratic apparatus, which decides who needs social assistance and who does not. "Unconditional basic income" will make the bureaucracy in this matter unnecessary. Money will be put to all. So, the government has five and a half years to prepare a bill for this initiative.
According to the supporter of the AML idea with considerable experience and the owner of a chain of stores dm Goetz Werner (Gotz Werner) “with the introduction of the“ unconditional basic income ”we suddenly realize that it’s not material need that makes us work, but rather . Labor productivity will increase, because everyone will do what they really like. ”
Unconditional basic income is not a left or right turn, but movement forward
Well, I would like to agree with Werner’s arguments, but let's see how things are going with the popularization of the ideas of basic income in Russia.
The website of the Russian Public Initiative passed a vote on the adoption of the concept of “Unconditional Basic Income”, which provides for a statutory minimum amount of money paid by the state. 286 people supported the initiative, 159 were against. In order for this initiative to be considered at the federal level, the number of supporters must be at least 100,000. For comparison, the initiative to set wages for managers of state corporations in an amount not exceeding 5 times the average wage of employees of this corporation collected 10 thousand votes.
At the same time, according to the FOM study, the majority of Russians who took part in the survey believe that there are categories of people in the country who do not receive social benefits, but need them. The offer to provide benefits only to those whose income is below a certain level is more often supported, and to give them only to those who write the application and collect the necessary documents is more often not.
At the state level, the AML idea in 2014 was supported by the party of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and held a vote for the initiative. Unfortunately, only 1360 participants supported the initiative, with the necessary quota of 20 thousand votes.
Meanwhile, the authors of the online community of LiveJournal ru-bod advise not to be idle, but to act independently. First of all, to become the conductor of the idea of ​​getting a basic income, to do this, to conduct your own activity in promoting this approach. The next step is to try to raise funds on a crowdfunding basis to provide basic income to those who wish, for example, using the Boomstarter platform or the aforementioned Patreon.
It is not a secret to anyone that the promotion of civil initiatives requires the ardent faith of their supporters. What do you think, how long does it take for Russians to get an idea of ​​basic income?
Nowadays, fortunately, the general level of economic development and the automation of labor make it possible to approach the Greek idyll without slavery. Therefore, it is not surprising that ideas from the past come back in a new area: in this post we will talk about the concept, Basic income, the idea of ​​providing all citizens with guaranteed and unconditional basic income.
Translation of smartprogress.do service specifically for "Megamind"
Basic income ( unconditional basic income, basic income ) is a social concept, according to which a citizen is paid a monetary satisfaction regardless of whether he has a job or not. Now many employees hold on to their place, go to an unloved job, suffer bullying from their boss, and experience stress from their own lack of implementation. Fear of being left without means of existence hampers the beginning of the business of all life, and the database could give people more opportunities for self-realization and achievement of goals that are really important to them.
')
An ardent supporter of the dissemination of this concept and co-founder of the World Basic Income Network ( BIEN ), Guy Standing, professor at the University of London, notes in his book about the growth of a new class that is not economically protected. In an interview with the Russian Planet , Standing explained the basics of this theory.
One of the consequences of globalization and the shift of power towards the financial sector is the emergence of a multi-level class structure that overlaps with the entire global economy. In the modern world, according to Standing, there are five main classes: plutocracy, salariate, old proletariat, prekariat, and lumpen.
At the top, he believes, is the plutocracy - the oligarchs and other elite. Immediately under the plutocrats and elites is the salariate — people with long-term job security, bonuses, pensions, health insurance, and everything else. Below that is the old proletariat. The Soviet system, and the socially-oriented states of Western Europe were built just for the needs of the proletariat, however, in the course of global production of capital, the layer of the proletariat is reduced. Under the proletariat, the prekariat arises and grows (from the English precarious - risky, unstable). Below the prekariat - only the poor, lumpenized people living and dying on the streets without communication with society.
Standing notes three features of the prekariat:
- Production relations of representatives of this - they have no job security, a permanent workplace, as well as professional identity. According to Standing, representatives of the prekariat do not have a story about where they go through life. Another aspect of these same production relations is that a large part of their time is spent on work that is not taken into account and is not paid. This is not work, this is work — self-care, retraining, interaction with the bureaucracy — huge amounts of work that are not recorded anywhere.
- The prekariatu basically has to rely only on a direct monetary reward for labor, if they can get it at all. The prekariat cannot count on the state, on pensions, unemployment benefits, payment of medical bills. So he suffers a great deal of economic uncertainty.
- The precariate has a special relationship with the state. More and more people in the precariate do not have the same rights (civil, social, political, cultural and economic) that other citizens have.
If you get a "gray" salary - hopes for a comfortable retirement are small. According to Standing, the only ones who receive good pensions are the salariate. Indirectly, out of wages, they get a lot more than anyone else. In contrast to salariate, prekarians have no other income than salary, which strongly depends on their position in the labor market. In addition, they do not control their development, and rather do not have social and labor rights, because they are also in the shadow economy or on the border with it.
Supporters of guaranteed income want to tie benefits not to work as such, but to citizenship. Every resident who, in their opinion, is not a criminal, should be entitled to basic guarantees so that people can manage their lives, get an education, have food and a roof over their heads.
According to the professor, a campaign to collect signatures in support of the introduction of the Basic Income - EU Initiative was organized in 17 EU countries. When recruiting a million signatures for the year, the European Union will have to conduct a feasibility study and launch pilot projects.
Due to what is planned to form a fund to pay guaranteed income:
- Ecological tax;
- tax on working capital;
- tax on the purchase of luxury goods;
- self-financing by simplifying the list of existing social benefits and reducing the budget for their support;
- and etc.
Head of a person without and with a basic income
Naturally, such a concept has not only advantages in the form of poverty reduction and increase, but also constraints.
First, the nightmare of the capitalist, about the fact that the employee refuses to do hateful work, goes to study or devotes time to the family, does not give rest to many.
Secondly, many are frightened by the disappearance of a person who receives, albeit a minimal, but guaranteed income, motivation for further work and his transformation into a dependent.
And thirdly, where to get money for such an act of goodwill? It's no secret that such programs are expensive.
Despite the most ardent skeptics around the world are pilot programs for the introduction of a guaranteed income. The most famous experiment was conducted in Canada in the 1970s and lasted five years.
In Dauphin, Manitoba, it was decided to eradicate poverty and introduce the program “a city without poverty”. Everyone who was at risk of falling below the poverty line received monthly payments without any obligations. Unfortunately, the project was closed after the conservatives came to power, and all the researchers who worked on the experiment: anthropologists, sociologists, economists — lost their money and working hours to analyze the experimental data. And only many years later, in 2005, Canadian professor Evelyn Forge learned about the existence of these archival documents, a few years later she was given access to them. Professor Forge's team studied all the experimental data, and as it turned out, he was very successful.
Forget discovered that young mothers and teenagers worked significantly less. Mothers with newborns stopped working to give time to babies, teenagers worked less because they no longer needed to provide for their families. However, the number of adolescents receiving higher education has increased. Those who continued to work had more opportunities to find a job for the soul or to continue their education, which many men did. Forget found out that during the project the visits to the hospital decreased by 8.5 percent, the number of emergency aid incidents, car accidents and domestic violence decreased. In addition, during this period, a reduction in the rate of psychiatric hospitalization and the number of consultations related to mental illness were found.
The experiment in the village of Namibia was also recognized as successful. During the year, residents were given 100 Namibian dollars (about 8 US dollars). The result is a reduction in poverty, a decrease in crime rates, and an increase in the economic activity of residents.
Pilot projects were also launched in Brazil , India , Kenya and other countries.
In the US, the ideologist of the basic income is Scott Santens. To draw attention to the concept of Santens launched a crowdfunding company to raise funds for its own basic income of $ 1,000 a month. Scott is also the author of the idea of twittering posts with the hashtag #mybasicincome , where the authors write what they would do if they had it.
In the autumn of 2013, at a referendum in Switzerland for six months , a record number of signatures was collected - 126 thousand in support of the introduction of basic income, which would guarantee each Swiss a direct payment of 2,500 francs (about 2,000 euros), regardless of whether he has a job or not. According to estimates, it will cost Switzerland 200 billion francs a year against the 70 billion that the state spends on social benefits now - and this is without taking into account the cost of the bureaucratic apparatus, which decides who needs social assistance and who does not. "Unconditional basic income" will make the bureaucracy in this matter unnecessary. Money will be put to all. So, the government has five and a half years to prepare a bill for this initiative.
According to the supporter of the AML idea with considerable experience and the owner of a chain of stores dm Goetz Werner (Gotz Werner) “with the introduction of the“ unconditional basic income ”we suddenly realize that it’s not material need that makes us work, but rather . Labor productivity will increase, because everyone will do what they really like. ”
Unconditional basic income is not a left or right turn, but movement forward
Well, I would like to agree with Werner’s arguments, but let's see how things are going with the popularization of the ideas of basic income in Russia.
The website of the Russian Public Initiative passed a vote on the adoption of the concept of “Unconditional Basic Income”, which provides for a statutory minimum amount of money paid by the state. 286 people supported the initiative, 159 were against. In order for this initiative to be considered at the federal level, the number of supporters must be at least 100,000. For comparison, the initiative to set wages for managers of state corporations in an amount not exceeding 5 times the average wage of employees of this corporation collected 10 thousand votes.
At the same time, according to the FOM study, the majority of Russians who took part in the survey believe that there are categories of people in the country who do not receive social benefits, but need them. The offer to provide benefits only to those whose income is below a certain level is more often supported, and to give them only to those who write the application and collect the necessary documents is more often not.
At the state level, the AML idea in 2014 was supported by the party of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and held a vote for the initiative. Unfortunately, only 1360 participants supported the initiative, with the necessary quota of 20 thousand votes.
Meanwhile, the authors of the online community of LiveJournal ru-bod advise not to be idle, but to act independently. First of all, to become the conductor of the idea of ​​getting a basic income, to do this, to conduct your own activity in promoting this approach. The next step is to try to raise funds on a crowdfunding basis to provide basic income to those who wish, for example, using the Boomstarter platform or the aforementioned Patreon.
It is not a secret to anyone that the promotion of civil initiatives requires the ardent faith of their supporters. What do you think, how long does it take for Russians to get an idea of ​​basic income?
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/295602/
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