A Universal Basic Income - the way forward?

The idea of distributing free money is enough to cause confusion and perhaps even outrage in even the most level-headed of offices, such is the value of capital to us all. For why should, in a monetarily driven society, we give money unconditionally? 

Now granted, put it like that, and any resulting hysteria is completely understandable. Yet when you delve a little deeper, the suggestion isn't as mad as it first sounds.

The problem of inequality is unquestionably as prevalent issue today. The World Bank estimates that 736 million people, the equivalent to 10% of the world’s population, were living on under $1.90 per day in 2015. No matter which way you look at it, that is a startling number of people.

Enter a form of universal basic income (UBI), possibly one of the most liberal economic ideas currently existing in the 21st century. Principally, the concept gives every person (we will ignore international borders and currencies for the sake of clarity) a certain amount of money, no strings attached allowing them to do anything they like.

Well, within reason. A UBI would give everyone a certain amount, irrespective of their job status or employment, effectively replacing the benefits system here in the UK. And if that's not enough, unlike benefits, it gives everyone a financial boost.

I know, I know - this doesn't work does it? We can't afford this kind of system can we? And even if we could, surely people would waste their free money? Having recently read 'Utopia for Realists' by Rutger Bregman, a fierce proponent of UBI, I am convinced that both of these doubts are myths.

For one, without wanting to go into the financial specifics, all the evidence suggests that we can afford it. A redistribution of the benefits system in the UK alone is more than manageable, and would create room for a UBI funded by the taxpayer again. Once more, unlike the current system, they would receive some of that benefit too.

But those logistical economic specifics matter very little now. They are a problem for if, or when, UBI becomes talked about and implemented in society. The more important lesson is the answer to that latter question, an issue that boils down to human perception and trust. 

It is commonly assumed that poor people, or those that are unemployed, are there because of their own incompetence when it comes to money. They are irresponsible, we lament, and need guiding in how to manage their money.

Yet, as Bregman notes in his book, that view is entirely misinformed. Poor money management comes not from their personalities, but simply their situations and the stresses that those comes with. Further studies and pilots of the program, notably a 1970s version of UBI trialled in Winnipeg, Canada, which was only ended early due to the resulting conservative government scrapping the scheme four years later, reveal the astounding truth. Simply giving money makes people prosper.

I could throw more examples at you, as Bregman does. Giving money directly to people in African villages has increased their wealth in a way the aid system has never managed to do. Twelve of the homeless in the UK were given a substantial sum, a year later over two-thirds of those had sought housing for themselves. 

They all show the same thing. When everyone has the opportunity to build income, more choose to do so than run amok. In Winnipeg, divorce rates, unemployment and homelessness decreased, and perhaps significantly, the mental wellbeing of the population in the area increased.

The benefit system we currently use is completely dysfunctional. Recipients have to prove that they are deserving, or risk getting their benefits cut. All this does is make the benefit system more attractive to people. The incentive is to remain on the system of economic assistance instead of building their lives and using it as a springboard, predominantly due to the fear of being suddenly economically crippled. A UBI doesn’t create these pressures, in fact in some ways it relieves them. 

To me, the idea that we know more about the poor and what they need to do with money screams of arrogance. Acting as if they are brainless creatures is a condescending way to treat the poor.

When considering a UBI, we have to ask ourselves, what is it we truly want society to look like 50 years down the line? Is our utopian vision an ever-growing financially divisive world, or a search for more equal opportunities to give everyone the chance to pursue individual hobbies and desires? 

Perhaps the former is desirable for most of the top one percentile of the economic world, but I highly doubt it for everyone else. Money is manmade right? Rightly or wrongly, it’s a construct we have built our society upon. 

Inevitably then, money enables us to pursue desires we may not have previously imagined. When you consider that these could be loved ones that suffer if circumstances dictate, surely everyone deserves the chance to do something they truly want to and the financial security to be able to at least think about that?

Yes, it is radical, but Bregman says crazy, liberal ideas are there to be enforced. And I, for one, agree with him. A factory worker in 19th century Britain couldn’t have imagined women in politics and the rise of feminism we so rightly champion in 2019. Nelson Mandela couldn’t have thought apartheid would be lessened while stuck in a prison cell for 27 years.

Change can happen, but we need to push the boundaries. It is no use scratching around with moderate policies, because they are easy to reverse and their impact will be negligible. We need our actions to have a lasting impact on the world we cherish.

That applies not only for a UBI, by the way. Whatever political views we may hold, the things we do need to be highlighted. A rallying call is needed for those who, much like myself, believe nothing can be changed. Greta Thunberg has shown that climate change can be thrust into the political limelight, but there are other socio-economic problems too, and those also need challenging.

A universal basic income goes some way to truly giving monetary autonomy to the whole of society. 

The UN Declaration of Human Rights dictates that we all deserve freedom of choice, freedom of expression, freedom of movement, right to a decent standard of living. To universally fulfill all of those, hinges primarily on a UBI.