The idea of an Universal Basic Income
In 34 hours I will be receiving my 5th universal incoming from Mannabase. I have heard about it last year but failed to secure it and it was only a month ago that I click on a link and verified my account.
Why the hesitation? It is because we are hardwired that getting something free is fraudulent and is too good to be true. A vestige left by the idea of Objectivism that what we get is supposed to be from the sweat of body and a product of our mind. Otherwise, we are profiteering in using our weakness as a means of getting something that is not ours.
It is a hard concept to swallow especially to one raised with a capitalistic and scarcity mindset.
What changed my mind? Knowledge.
As I get more exposure to the concept of a Universal Basic Income the more it makes sense to me. the idea that human dignity is tied to work and thus toiling under a baking sun is regarded highly. As opposed to the writer under a tree penning a theory, short story or song which is regarded as wasting time or living with his head in the cloud, far removed from reality.
That with technology rising and will replace most jobs in the near future there will be a need for a working Universal Basic Income to help sustain humans with basic rights of food, shelter, clothing, and education.
As early as now in my industry in Human Resources, technology is replacing interviews with sophisticated data analytics, behavioral and situional questionaires that can predict a candidate's disposition and skill level. Granting at this point there is still a human making a decision for now but future innovations will gradually remove the need to have a human behind it.
The robotics industry has made manufacturing more efficient with a more standardized level of quality thus eliminating the need for human manual labor.
The idea of Universal Basic Income
It is not a new idea but has been proposed as early as the late 18th century by Thomas Spence and Thomas Paine who both supported the idea of a guaranteed social income as one of the Rights of Man.
It was further discussed by the likes of Bertrand Russell, Dennis Milner and his wife, and Clifford H. Douglas as part of a socialist movement that espouses that a basic income is a right of every man without the condition of work or willing to work.
Even the likes of Stephen Hawkings, Elon Musk, Richard Branson and Mark Zuckerberg all have positive views on a Universal Basic Income as it is a moral imperative to eliminate poverty and provide people a means to pursue their ideals and dreams.
Universal Basic Income in Action
Some may argue that it is a utopian dream best left in fiction as it is not sustainable but we have a couple of programs already in place that shows it is working.
Alaska Permanent Fund - is an ongoing program of the state of Alaska that provides Alaskan residents with a fund from oil revenue, real estate and investments in oil-based firms.
Bolsa Família - is the social welfare program of Brazil which aims to provide direct cash aid to poor families and was used to encourage them to keep children in school.
GiveDirectly - is a non-profit organization operating in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda and providing unconditional money transfer to families living in poverty. It is the largest and longest-running continuous program done by a nongovernment entity.
4Ps Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (Bridging Program for the Filipino Family) - is patterned after the Bolsa Família where a family is given direct cash transfer if they keep their children in school.
Basic Income Earth Nation - is an organization committed to spread, educate and discuss the Idea of universal Basic Income.
Finland Basic Income Experiment - An experiment done by Finnish government where 2000 randomly selected unemployed Finish residents are part of a 2-year program to see its effectivity.
Main Arguments against Universal Basic Income
- It promotes laziness because people know they will get it regardless of work or intention to work
- It will be used to buy drugs and alcohol
- It is done at the expense of the rich and taxpayers
- Does not lower poverty matrix
- Does not lower unemployment rate
- No impact on crime rate deterrence
While there has been numerous studies and focused groups done that have conflicting results but the majority agree that the basic income is first used to buy food.
Several studies show an increased amount of commerce and ability to find better-paying jobs to augment the basic income and children's encouragement to stay in school.
In Finland, in particular, though people are saying that with the experiment they are able to choose jobs better or stay in jobs that doesn't necessarily pay well but one that they enjoy.
Removing that predicament that you need to get the first job that is offered to you to eat makes one able to have greater freedom to choose and even make mistakes or go after their dreams.
Working in HR I often analyze reasons for leaving and better compensation is always in the top 3 (Bad bosses is also there all the time) as people will leave careers they love but can't pay them enough thus the need to seek greener pastures.
More often than not they would hate the new company as the culture would be vastly different and thus having a cycle of resigning and looking for new employment or the need to take vacations to de-stress and get away from it.
So I see Universal Basic Income as a means to encourage people to have more options in life.
Enter Mannabase
So I started this post saying I was getting my 5th Universal Basic Income. Dubbed as the people's currency its aim is to use the blockchain to be able to distribute the supply of Manna all troughout the world without any boundaries, restrictions or conditions.
It is now available to be traded, bought and sold through SouthXchange which is an Argentinian company that offers its services to be able to buy, sell and trade cryptocurrencies and fiat.
Current Market value from Coin Market Cap
Do I think that it will be a game changer in the blockchain technology? maybe not but it is a good step to help in the mass adoption of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain technology especially once it manages to have several tie-ins with charity organizations, suppliers, government entities, and sponsors.
Yet I can't help but think of that reality one day that we are free to make our decisions and not because we are driven by the need to feed ourselves but because we want to be the best version of ourselves.
If you are interested to avail of it you can click on my referral link below.
Click here for your Mannabase Income
Information gathered from the following sites:
Basic income
Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program
Money for nothing: is Finland's universal basic income trial too good to be true?
BIEN
What billionaires and business titans say about cash handouts in 2017 (Hint: lots!)
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Got registered and activated my account, then what next?
Nothing else needs to be done as you will just need to wait every week and you will recieve the UBI.
You can refer more people but it's not a requirement.
I'm excited about Manna, just joined a few weeks ago!
I know and they recently joined Steem and is looking for a platform that will be their social media aspect and give rewards so that sounds awfully familiar hahha.
Right?! Lol sweet, I'm going to follow
I don't want to dismiss the concept of Mannabase without at least looking into it properly, but surely if people start trading it and it's still being widely distributed, it would just become subject to massive inflation?
That's the issue I have with all universal basic income (UBI) schemes - I fear that they would promote inflation.
The other thing that concerns me about UBI schemes is that they could be used to indirectly introduce a kind of ID system where you would have to have some kind of State registration before being eligible for UBI.
I'm grappling with the whole concept of money. It's a brilliant way to facilitate exchange of goods and labour. But it can also be used as a way to enslave people - to force them to work, maybe to work in horrible unhealthy jobs if, for whatever reason, they can't pay their bills.
I suspect that the UBI will ultimately reinforce the whole money-banking-inflation-enslavement system. But maybe a crypto UBI system will be different.
Great thoughts there as that are the fears of economists that if being readily available to everyone it would devalue the currency and increase inflation to the point that your money becomes like funny money.
It is a valid point and needs to be factored in.
As for a national ID system and census that tracks all of this that may happen so that setting up ghost recipients and double and even triple identities can be avoided.
A lot of the basic income being run are conditional basic income that sets that you need to be poor or unemployed to be considered what mannabase is a crypto UBI regardless of station and the dispensing is automatic so no middle man or system that may take a cut.
Will it be successful? Time will tell.
Well, yes. Inflation. And we all pay for inflation.
And yes, government tyranny. Read Hayek’s ´´Road to Serfdom’´
Government tyranny is always a possibility, but not inevitable. A book written during WW2 is hardly proof of that. I've traveled and lived and worked in many different countries around the world, and my main take-away is that government is usually too bureaucratic, slow, dumb and corrupt to become tyrannies. What is much more likely though is that capitalism turns into tyranny, like it has in America. Because in capitalism, if allowed enough free rein, inevitably the clever and ruthless rise to the top and gain control of everything.
I was thinking of our own country's brush with tyranny with Marcos as in less than a generation he was able to instill fear and remove the voice of opposition and practically killed and exiled most of his political enemies with the intention of holding power indefinitely.
The stories of corruption, human rights violations and countless deaths attributed to him.
True, it was horrible. And historically misuse of power by government has been very common. But it seems to be changing. I suspect capitalism has recently started taking over this role.
While government may well manifest all of the characteristics you ascribe to it, it has still managed to be tyrannical. Can you deny that the the regimes of Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot were tyrannies ?
Interesting recommendation there.
I've been on the fence about programs like these, but i do agree that there are far to many people who have to work multiple jobs or jobs that they can't stand in order to eat. A supplement like this could help a person who's calling is not high paying work at least be able to do the job and be happy.
Yes indeedy! Sometimes we have to hold two or three jobs in order to make ends meet and we are too tired to do anything else let alone have a relationship with our family.
having an UBI can provide some wiggle room for a person.
sana matutunan ko din hahaha:) how i love to learn this UBI too!!
You can use my link and just verify your account and that's it you will start to receive a UBI weekly.
One thing to point out is the organization fueling this is running as a charity organization, so one imagines that the value in these tokens roughly reflects the value that the charity is bringing to the whole ecosystem. Propping up the value of these tokens can be seen as funding this organization, though buying tokens in an exchange probably doesn't count as a tax deductible donation (I wonder...?) . Other than that, I suspect it needs other value propping initiatives from companies wishing to gain exposure to the users of the manna blockchain...
Spoken like a true taxman haha indeed it is interesting how they put value in these tokens.
I read that it is really by joining forces with companies, other charity organizations to make it as have value.
I thought this was well thought out. I'm going to have to meditate on this though. Right now my main concern would be (if this it becomes state sponsored) that the state would then require numerous behavioral metrics to be met by the individual. Which then requires state monitoring. Of course they, the State, will and is already doing that to a degree. But for this they would most certainly monitor all activities and behaviors. God help us.
That would be true for a conditional basic income that most of the examples that I have given that is being by the government and non-government entities.
They need to be poor or unemployed to be considered.
A true universal basic income as proposed by mannabase is one that is given out for simply existing. I think that has merit as it is not large enough to not make a person stop working but will be enough to give some breathing room to have other options.
Mabuhay ang UBI! Lol. I have started exploring other means to earn as well. Will try this Mannabase Income also. Thanks for sharing. :D
Kaso 503 service unavailable xa now.
Oh yes Chinita we all need multiple streams of income in order to survive this mad world
Good article @maverickinvitus. It definitely gives me something to think about. I have seen a few others with the Mannabase banner and I have been thinking about looking into it.
True there are a lot of 'ifs' but if we lived by that standard and be afraid to take that next step we will never progress. It really seems like a live and learn scenario.
Great comment and that was the mindset I had when I joined Mannabase. I really like the idea especially as a means for poor people to have access to options.
Great post about UBI and Manna, I've awaiting my confirmation for 8 days by now...
Good luck Frogman do you think this is a good thing for your country?