NETHERLANDS
EVERYONE DESERVES THE BASICS
Rutger Bregman, De Volkskrant
In a rich society like ours, everyone should live comfortably said Rutger Bregman. Classical economists tend to be aghast at the idea of guaranteeing every citizen a “basic income.” They wrongly assume that if you hand people free money, they will immediately stop working. In fact, research by the World Bank shows that people work more effectively “after they have been lifted out of poverty.”
Here in the Netherlands, many people have no incentive to get off the dole because a minimum-wage job often pays less than unemployment benefits. With a guaranteed income, there is no such trap. “Work always pays.” Even for those who remain jobless, the program would more than pay for itself at a societal level when you count the billions saved on healthcare, policing and bureaucracy.
This is an important point because our economy does not have enough vacant jobs for everyone who wants or needs work. As robotics and software evolve, there will be even fewer jobs for humans. Rather than simply “humiliating and patronizing” the unemployed, we could encourage them to do volunteer work with children or seniors or beautify our parks. Almost everyone wants to make something of his or her life and contribute to society. A basic income can make that possible.
Comments
by George Wright
It does not take much comparison to understand that the above note from the Netherlands could have been written by someone here in the U.S. The ruling elite here in this country, hope we remain ignorant of social facts such as this in order to control the wages paid. In any system whereby wealth and power are tantamount, that power must be constantly protected.
It stands to reason that a more stable and secure a person becomes, the more positive effects they display in all walks of life including not only work but marriage, child rearing and just general living together. This one extremely important factor that Technocracy strives to point out, is that we need no longer be controlled by any type of a monetary system that exalts the few rich and powerful at the expense of the rest.
In their quest to keep control, the real power behind the political process cannot always maintain the right amount of order required and public unrest develops despite their efforts. Technocracy has stated that in any monetary system, the tendency is for the money, the wealth, to transfer to fewer and fewer hands. Some time ago it was found that only 60 some families scattered around the planet had more wealth than half of the world’s population. The magnitude may be new, but the results are not. Historically, nation after nation has fallen and in part for that reason (the compression and compilation of money and power). The U.S. is in the throws of change related to all that. Realized along with the fact that physical work itself is no longer in need of much human effort – consequently, we can no longer try to fix the system using a system that is in fact, the cause of the problem.
How do we do change over? Technocracy talks about how to transition to a new system here.
Technocracy implores all who come in contact with us, to study the research on our present economic and social situation, the viable alternatives (not the Isms) and become informed. And then spread the word. Why cling to a system of government that was developed for a way of life from centuries ago? Technology is changing and systems need to change with it.
