Of course I want a Universal Basic Income.
Illustration: Andrew Reeve
A Universal Basic Income (UBI) is not a ticket for the “undeserving” to live in luxury, but may become the product of an increasingly automated society. That all may experience the leisure time once known only to those who plundered other countries resources is perhaps a sore point for some unfamiliar with the notion that their wealth was born on the crooked backs of the many.
A UBI immediately resolves the problem of gender pay gaps, more women in some roles and more men in others. No one need fight or shout again. All receive a fixed amount, and no one need more than anyone else.
Many will argue that this utopia cannot exist. But that is to assume the outdated notion that one deserves more because one had more to begin with. Our society is founded on a flaw that began with the Norman conquest. It began unequal, and of course no one at the top is willing to forgo the security that wealth provides when a society informed by nationalistic governments and populism increases its hostility to those with little. The fact that many of those who have little do so because of a myriad of factors such as mental and or physical health issues; ethnic status; a lack of local employment opportunities seems easily overlooked by those fearful of being given equal footing amongst the needy. Marx has been so catastrophically misunderstood because those “at the top” have more to lose than those “at the bottom” have to gain. Hard work does account for some achievements, however, many achievements are also gotten through sheer luck of being born into social circles that enable access to education in institutions connected to high level opportunities in media, finance, government. How many people who went to Oxbridge, Harvard, Yale, are employed in repetitive manual tasks in factories? Very few people indeed have become “successful” — a flawed interpretation of accumulating wealth — without either being given some capital to begin whatever enterprise they’ve undertaken, or without some connection to a pot of gold. This is so obvious and sickening, it is continuously amazing that millions of people still live under the false truth that hard work alone will provide the means to live comfortably well into old age. Ask anyone who has lost a pension because of Sir Philip Green.
A UBI is not a salve that will immediately eradicate the ill effects of poverty. If one lives in squalor a UBI will not help them out of that squalor, rather it seems it will maintain their circumstances without the means to leave it behind. Therefore better housing is required before a UBI can be administered. But who will pay for this? It seems that companies such as Amazon, Google, who ought to conduct themselves with the ethical sensibility of the universal business model they provide, could begin the transition. After all, their business will not require profits because there will be no use for them.
My rant against the current system is partly influenced by my life experiences and present circumstances. I have a long history of mental health issues, and I have tried to heave myself up. So far I have not got anywhere near being financially stable. I am middle aged, divorced, and can see no future where I will own my home. I am reliant on welfare despite having gained BA and MA degrees. I cannot find suitable work for my mental health mainly because there is little work presently out there for anyone irrespective of their qualifications, abilities, ambitions. We are living in dark times where populism and nationalism easily contaminate the thoughts of those who feel, unsurprisingly, that someone else is to blame for this hell. The worst thing any of us can do is to maintain the illusion and position ourselves under those with enough to spare hoping that some of it will trickle down into our open and desperate mouths.
