How to make UBI a reality - the practical commentary by Guy Standing

 

In this episode our guest is Guy Standing, a researcher and former professor at SOAS University of London. He is one of the most prominent researchers and advocates of universal basic income, a topic which we’ve talked about in several Future Thinkers episodes before. Guy Standing is the author of a book called “Basic Income: And How We Can Make It Happen”, published last year. In this episode we talk about the evolution of the basic income idea, the transformative effects it would have on individuals and communities, and how it can be made reality.

The Concept of Basic Income and Its Justifications

Basic income is defined as a regular, unconditional amount of money paid to all legal residents of a community.Guy explains the three main justifications for basic income, which are fundamentally moral, ethical and philosophical.First, Guy argues that basic income is a matter of social justice. It would represent a dividend of the current wealth accumulated as a result of the work of many generations before us.Second, it would promote freedom, providing an individual with an emancipatory ability to say no to figures of authority capable of oppressing or exploiting them.Lastly, it would give the person a basic security that would allow them to gain control over their lives. It would also encourage the person to take risks in the creative sense and provide space for growth in areas they are interested in.As Guy explains, there are several common objections to the idea of basic income. The most common of them are the objection to giving somebody something for nothing, the fear of people becoming lazy, the economical unsustainability, the fear of it being inflationary, or that it would take attention away from other important issues.It’s not a matter of being able to say no, it’s being in the situation you know you could say no.CLICK TO TWEET

What Is The Precariat?

The idea of basic income and its values speaks most to the new emerging class of the precariat. Guy argues it is a new class of people characterized by chronic uncertainty and insecurity in terms of labor. As a result, the members of the precariat have no sense of occupational identity, but most importantly, they feel like they are losing their rights.

Risk taking means sometimes just doing nothing or appearing to do nothing.
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Basic Income Pilot Experiments Around the World

Guy continues talking about experimental pilots that took place in Namibia, West Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, and other locations.All of these experiments had numerous beneficial effects on individuals and communities involved, including improved nutrition and health of children, improved schooling, increased economic activity, improved status of women, and the decrease of the consumption of substances such as alcohol and tobacco. People also had more productive activity and more energy.At the moment, Guy is designin a number of pilots in Western countries that he thinks will have similar effects.

If you give basic security to an individual, there are very good reasons for expecting that individual becomes more altruistic, more tolerant, more productive, more responsible and a better fellow human being.
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In This Episode of Future Thinkers Podcast:

• What is universal basic income and why is it necessary?
• The transformative effects of basic income on individuals and society
• The most common objections to the idea and how to deal with them
• What is the precariat?
• Basic income pilot experiements from around the world and their results