UBI, or universal basic income as it is formally called, is a great idea for giving people all of the basic income that they need in order to survive and live a decent life without having to work slave wages or worry where their next meal is going to come from. A more official definition of UBI comes from investopedia.com:
"Universal basic income (UBI) is a government program in which every adult citizen receives a set amount of money regularly. The goals of a basic income system are to alleviate poverty and replace other need-based social programs that potentially require greater bureaucratic involvement."
Many people on both sides of the political isles have supported UBI. In this little article, I am going to be writing about some of the left-wing thinkers of Europe that support UBI. From the years 1872 (when he was born in Trellech, Monmouthsire, Wales)-1970 (when he sadly passed away in Penrhyndeudraeth, Caernarfonshire, Wales), there was a great British socialist thinker named Bertrand Russell. On top of being a brilliant mind in the field of mathematics as well as the philosophy of mathematics, Bertrand was an avid libertarian socialist thinker who believed that universal basic income should be a new social model for modern society. In fact, Russell was one of the first people in the United Kingdom of the 20th century to suggest universal basic income in academic writings. Before Russell came to prominence, and before he was even born, there was William Morris. This man was a British activist and textile designer who was born in 1834 and died in 1896. He proposed having a form of UBI all the way back in the 19th century in his essay "Useful work v. useless labor". Closer to modern day, we have a man and well-known socialist who actually had the privilege to run for office Candidate for President of France Benoit Hamon suggested having a "universal income" that could guarantee that the citizens of France could get about 750 euros a month to pay for their regular living expenses.
Why have I chosen such an oddly specific topic to talk about on this blog? Because I have seen some very odd individuals suggest that UBI is somehow a 'purely capitalist' idea that is about bribing the working class to not get proper rights. I wanted to show that this could not be further for the truth. While some capitalists support UBI, there are many socialists who want to support UBI because it is not a bribe - it is a way to guarantee the working class do not have to blindly be forced to work jobs they don't like & get back a piece of their labor. Plus, there are plenty of capitalists in countries like the United States, Europe, and elsewhere who are fighting tooth-and-nail to make sure UBI does not happen, claiming that it makes everyone lazy and that people should be forced to work whatever jobs they are handed in order to survive. No matter where people stand, they need to understand that UBI is not about making people lazy or bribing people to not demand better rights: if anything, it gives people the money they need to have their needs met and make it easier for average workers to fight for their rights if they don't have to worry where their next meal comes from if they quit.
Originally posted on Long Story Short History. Hive blog powered by ENGRAVE.