What is Basic Income and why do we need it

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

What is Basic Income and why do we need it

https://youtu.be/SQXxcjJ5ODw

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Published on Apr 3, 2015

While the implementation of a basic income may be easy in some and nearly impossible in other countries, my idea with this video was not to show basic income as the only solution to the many problems we (will) have. I wanted the concept of basic income to be understood, so we can all have a broader view and find suitable solutions which could fit (almost) everyone.

Transcript

English 0:00When we talk about basic income, we should be clear that we are talking about unconditional basic income, 0:05which means that everybody gets a monthly basic income without having to give something in return. 0:09Basic Income is meant to improve general living conditions 0:13and make it possible for everybody not simply to survive, but to participate in society. 0:17Furthermore the right to work will change into a right to exist. 0:21Nobody will be forced to work, while it is still possible and made an incentive to work. 0:26There are several reasons why a discussion about basic income is necessary. 0:30Especially with the ongoing automation in every economical sector, which is happening right now. 0:35Self-driving cars, warehouse-bots, software-bots, salesman-bots, etc. 0:41And those bots do not represent a small amount of the workforce. 0:44This is a list of jobs ranked by the number of people who perform them. 0:48All of these jobs already exist for over 50 years, and almost all of them are easy targets for automation. 0:54The only new job introduced because of the advances in technology is on place 33. 0:59The unemployment rate during the great depression was 25%, the jobs above are 45%. 1:06This list only represents the US workforce but nonetheless, if implemented on a global scale, 1:11it will cause problems for the people that are currently employed in those sectors. 1:15They will be competing against robots who do not need to sleep, take no breaks and need no salary. 1:20They will be made unemployable. 1:22The changes are inevitable and may sound bad for many people, but it’s rather important what we make of it. 1:28Now to explain the idea of basic income we are going to use this simple sheet. 1:32Every one of those bars represent the income of one individual. 1:35Number One completely relies on social benefits as she can’t find a job. 1:392, 3 and 4 do have a job but they do also get social benefits of some kind. 1:43 7 does have a job and the highest income on this sheet, but also gets child support. 1:48Next up, the green line represents the basic income gap. 1:51As I stated out earlier, everybody gets basic income. 1:54Also basic income will replace social benefits till they eventually disappear. 1:59As 2-7 do have a job, they still get paid and for simplicity of this sheet, 2:04they do not get replaced by bots, lose their jobs or stop to work. 2:09There are many different ways to finance basic income but I’m going to focus on financing through income tax. 2:16An important point in financing through income tax is, 2:19that basic income should also implement an incentive to work, therefore it should also come with a tax free income gap. 2:24 If 2 and 3 still want to work, they will not get taxed for it as they are below the gap. 2:294 to 7 have a higher income and will get taxed. 2:32The actual income tax will not change much and whatever taxation system you choose, all of them will get the job done. 2:39Of course it would be possible to use more than one way of financing, for example, 2:43as an addition to income tax also taxing certain products different. 2:48To face some complaints about basic income from the beginning, 2:51basic income won’t be implemented with 2000 Dollar at Day1, as the robot revolution won’t take 45% of jobs by tomorrow. 2:58It will slowly rise and at first won’t make a huge difference to your income. 3:02And certainly it won’t make you rich. It will give you a certain standard including the freedom to choose to work. 3:09Automate it 3:11If you can’t, improve the work environment till people want to do it “Better pay” 3:15If it’s gets possible or cheaper to automate it, automate it 3:19Or, do it yourself 3:24Basic income would be a solution for the ongoing automation process, but there are more things that we would directly benefit from. 3:30 It would reduce overall poverty and crime, it would make the governments bureaucracy more transparent and efficient. 3:36 People who are handicapped would get better treatment, included better into society and not seen as a burden of society. 3:42Productivity would rise on both sides, through automation on one and through the passion of the people on the other. 3:48And for all the “We need more growth people”, even the economy would profit because everybody is able to spend more money. 3:55Besides these important changes for the society as a whole, 3:58 each person on their own can spend time with things they love and enjoy. 4:04Of course basic income won’t be solving every problem we need to face in the future, 4:07but it’s an important idea we need to understand and improve to create a world worth living for everyone.