In today’s world of pandemic income disparity, the notion of receiving a basic income for the cost of living seems like a reasonable solution. But providing a stipend of entitlement creates a potential for even more draconian measures, as the people fall into greater levels of dependency on an authoritarian state, which can then deny such benefits for whatever justification it thinks is necessary.
The general principle is sound, however, as it acknowledges a fundamental aspect of life in the universe. The Earth is teeming with abundance at nearly all levels, from mineral to plant and animal, there is seemingly no limit to the potential for sustaining life. Nature does not use artificial representations of value (money) to facilitate the cooperation of living things. Instead, organisms co-creatively take what they need while also producing resources for other organisms, forming a living and vibrant ecology.
No matter where we look in nature, a near perfect level of organization and management of resources is taking place. So, why is it that the human race, arguably the most intelligent species on the planet fails so terribly at maintaining itself?
The answer to this question is of paramount importance for balance seeking individuals looking to reestablish harmony with nature. Simply put, society as we know it today is completely out of balance. We produce goods intentionally for disposable purposes, ensuring that transnational corporations maintain a profit, the cost of which is untold environmental destruction. Ultra powerful political and social forces indoctrinate the masses into ignorance and dependency on centralized powers of governance, which fail to maintain the public trust, and harm all life as a result.
How can we seek prosperity for ourselves, without also continuing this program of ceaseless destruction?
Lack of wisdom, lack of true knowledge and understanding ensures that chaos is created in the world when one acts on their desires. In this case, most of humanity is out of sync with how to actually create abundance in their own lives, and in the absence of this knowledge, the notion of income for all seems like a viable solution. Therefore, the true solution is gaining key knowledge and understanding of one’s innate abilities so as to become a wellspring of abundance in their own right. In order to do this, however, we must spend our time on improving ourselves, instead of continuing the program of indoctrination into further dependence on the state.
The whole of westernized government is centrally focused on the presumption that the people are incompetent and incapable of managing their own affairs. Social Security is born out of this ideology, wherein the entire population of the planet is considered to be paupers or surfs to a despotic elite. This is essentially a form of modern slavery and feudalism, wherein the rich own everything and the unrich are mere cogs in the machines of industry.
Related The History of Voluntary Slavery: Birth (Settlement) Certificates
Prime Minister of Finland, Juha Sipilä, clearly states that, in his view, “a basic income means simplifying the social security system.” In other words, it’s not about providing more freedom to the people via extra cash, it’s about maintaining the current system that reduces most people to wage slaves. And the study by the Finland government is to address unemployment numbers, to get people back to work, not about improving the quality of life. Clearly this is just another program of serfdom or modern Feudalism.
Related The Slavery of Feudalism Replaced with False Capitalism | Financial Feudalism
Since the primary cause of social injustice, and, in this case, income disparity is a lack of skill and knowledge within a population, then the solution is to seek wisdom and empowerment whenever possible. In this way, a basic income for all can actually be a huge benefit, but only if the people spend their time wisely.
In many cases, people work hours every day improving the projects and plans of others, gaining almost nothing in the way of personal empowerment. But liberation from debt-slavery is all but guaranteed for those steadfast individuals who seek to improve themselves, with knowledge and truth. So while income for all is most likely a tool of the elite to further entrench the masses into ignorance and slavery, we can use such tools to our advantage and spend our time wisely so as to eventually become free of such dependence.
We have always had this power, and I suspect that one day we will live in the world where money is no longer viewed as the solution to all our problems. Instead, a dedication to seeking knowledge and wisdom will be viewed as the only solution to any problem one encounters in life.
The Finnish government is getting serious about the idea of a national basic income. It has commissioned KELA, the national social insurance provider, to study the concept, calculate the costs, and run an experiment in 2017 to judge the feasibility of rolling it out across the country. If, eventually, the government were to approve of such a plan, Finland could scrap all existing benefits and instead hand out a monthly stipend to everyone. According to some reports, the monthly payment could be €800 ($870).
Whereas several Dutch cities will introduce basic income next year and Switzerland is holding a referendum on the subject, there is strongest political and public support for the idea in Finland.
A poll commissioned by KELA showed that 69% support (link in Finnish) a basic income plan. Prime minister Juha Sipilä is in favor of the idea and he’s backed by most of the major political parties. “For me, a basic income means simplifying the social security system,” he says.
But for those outside Finland, the plan raises two obvious questions: Why is this a good idea, and how will it work?
It may sound counterintuitive, but the proposal is meant to tackleunemployment. Finland’s unemployment rate is at a 15-year high and a basic income would allow people to take on low-paying jobs without personal cost. At the moment, a temporary job results in lower welfare benefits, which can lead to an overall drop in income.
Previous experiments have shown that universal basic income can have a positive effect. Everyone in the Canadian town of Dauphin was given a stipend from 1974 to 1979, and though there was a drop in working hours, this was mainly because men spent more time in school and women took longer maternity leaves. Meanwhile, when thousands of unemployed people in Uganda were given unsupervised grants of twice their monthly income, working hours increased by 17% and earnings increased by 38%.
One of the major downsides, of course, is the cost of handing out money to so many people. Liisa Hyssälä, director general of KELA, has said that the plan will save the government millions. But, as Bloomberg calculated, giving €800 of basic income to the population of 5.4 million every month would cost €52.2 billion a year. Finland only plans to give the basic income to adults, not every citizen, but with around 4.9 million adults in Finland, this would still cost €46.7 billion per year. The government expects to have €49.1 billion in revenue in 2016.
Another serious consideration is that some people may be worse off under the plan. As a proposal hasn’t been published yet, it’s not yet known exactly who might lose out. But those who currently receive housing support or disability benefits could conceivably end up with less under national basic income, since the plan calls for scrapping existing benefits. And as national basic income would only give a monthly allowance to adults, a single mother of three could struggle to support herself compared to, for example, a neighbor with the same government support but no children and a part-time job.
Finally, this raises the question of whether it’s really fair to give a relatively better off individual the same amount of welfare as someone who’s truly struggling. Finland’s constitution insists that all citizens must be equal, though, of course, equality can be interpreted in many different ways. So far, there’s no definitive answer as to whether national basic income will create a more or less equal society.
Correction (Dec. 5): An earlier version of this article questioned whether it was fair for millionaires to get the same level of welfare as those who are struggling. As wealthier people still pay tax, a millionaire would technically get €800 per month but would not get net support from the government. The article also cited non-seasonally adjusted unemployment data, which has been changed to the seasonally adjusted figures, and stated the cost of providing basic income for every citizen rather than every adult.
Correction (Dec. 8): An earlier version of this article did not explain that KELA is conducting a study to explore the possibility of a implementing a basic income program. There is no government plan to introduce a basic income for all adults at this time.
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