Finland Pilots Universal Income Project For Unemployed
Vice has just put up a report about the Finnish government's pilot scheme to pay everyone a few hundred euros per month - beginning with the unemployed.
Effectively, this means that rather than being forced to engage the government's unemployment payment systems and constantly show evidence of 'looking for a job' - those involved can use their time to directly improve their own lives and start whatever projects that they need to start to end their reliance on state payouts.
As pointed out in the video, this isn't real 'Universal income' since it only applies to a small number of people and there is serious resistance to introducing the scheme globally as the claim is basically that the entire 'economy' would 'collapse' due to not being able to pay for the scheme.
Sadly, as is almost always the case when issues of national economics are raised - the fact that our entire financial systems are based on debt based (enslaving) fiat currencies that steal the wealth from almost everyone and also the fact that the majority of tax money goes to a small number of corporations and their shareholders is totally avoided.
None the less, it's an interesting alternative view that rarely makes it into the lamestream narrative!
Wishing you well,
Ura Soul
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A basic income guarantee (BIG) is an interesting concept, and one that could prove very beneficial for society on the whole.
Of course, it is a subject of much controversy, but so is our current crony capitalist system. And in fact, the statement of the one man that "higher taxation means lower incentive to work" is nonsense. If those people who may need some support are given a certain amount of support, most of them will do something productive or creative or beneficial for their neighborhood or society.
On the other hand, if their jobs are sent overseas, and if they are then left jobless and maybe homeless (which is happening more and more nowadays), then they will not be able to do much of anything productive for themselves, for their families, or for society. In fact, they may end up being a drag on productivity and development.
For those who jump up and retort "That's socialism!" and claim that socialism does not work, I'd say "Neither does capitalism work."
Both socialism and capitalism would work perfectly in their ideal forms. But most examples of socialism are far from the ideal, and of course, they have failed. And a very brief overview of the past 20 years of capitalism shows that it too has failed. Miserably, we might add.
The cause of all approaches failing is the presence of denial and heartlessness. There's no way to mandate the end of heartlessness since it starts inside each of us and so the best we can end up with is a system designed by and for people who are partially (or even totally) heartless. The solution requires us all to identify our heartlessness, feel into the gap within us that heartlessness left behind and gradually increase our felt presence and capacity to feel the truth and for intuition/empathy.
Once this is done, the way forwards into a new balance will become clear. <3
You have a great way of getting to the crux of the matter. I've never heard the term "heartlessness" used when discussing these issues, even though that should be at the core of such thought.
The way I see it, we will need much development, much evolution, and maybe even some form of revolution before society abandons its emphasis on greed. But you're right when you say that it must come from within.
Of course, we can guide, instruct, and educate people from outside, but the changes must be effected INSIDE each person. When enough people change internally, society will change. That's evident from history, and we simply have to acknowledge it, then work towards our ideals while keeping that dynamic in mind.
Thanks - yes, the heart is the most important and most misunderstood aspect of human life. The mind without heart's guidance is essentially infinite and can easily get lost with the trillions of things we encounter.. but the heart is a compass that draws in simplicity when needed and expands to accommodate the complexity when needed too. It's our connection to each other and to all of life.
Understanding what you have described eloquently here - that change comes from within - and by extension that 'the outer reality reflects the inner reality' is a valuable understanding indeed. From it we can find great peace and redirect our energies into their right place which also feels good. :)
thanks for the heads up! I have been racking my brain to try and implement a private market solution to this problem because governments in general are inefficient and corrupt. I believe in a universal basic income but we have been betrayed by our governments for long enough i think we can do it outside of the institutions that currently exist. Cutting out the bureaucracy in welfare states and giving that money directly to citizens instead seems to make more sense. I know in canada people on social assistance do not get enough to get by yet they have to deal with so much paperwork, interviews, and other bureaucratic bs to even receive said funds. Put the money in the hands of those that need it and will spend it and youve got yourself some healthy markets.
The vast majority of 'money' goes to those who already have most of it and ultimately it is made 'from nothing' anyway. The best solution is one that starts in the heart and which doesn't revolve around money at all. ;)
I am well aware of the monopoly money that the dark alchemists create out of thin air in order to enslave and acquire things of actual value. I believe in a basic level of human dignity and as much as it would be awesome for an equilibrium to be reached, we are not close enough to a state of gnosis. I also dont trust governments and was just advocating for a basic minimum income safety net through the private market - because I believe we can be kind enough to cut out the middle man and make sure everyone has the basics covered. Ideally this would be in a system that isnt the current fiat one, I was considering coming up with some sort of blockchain solution that could decentralize the wealth redistribution. One could argue that mining can have a similar effect but obviously it needs to be more than that.
These sort of experiments do have to be made in these Scandinavian countries and perhaps a few others, maybe Japan. If you tried this in Latin America, well I'll tell you an anecdote, I actually don't know if it is true, an Argentinian engineer went to Stockholm and he went to the metro where he found several gates each with a place to pay passage and also a guard, but he was amazed to see a gate that had no guard and was completely opened so he asked a girl about this, she told him it was for people who for some reason couldn't pay their fare. The Argentinian asked her if they didn't fear people abusing the system and using this gate while having the money to pay, she just asked him "Why would someone do that?" The Argentinian knew that in all of Latin America that free gate would have a queue as long as the amount of people who wanted to board the train.
So you see for this universal income to work first you have to try it with people who have the right attitude towards it and don't see it as a freebie but as an opportunity to improve their lives.
I think that such a scheme would also result in most people using the free gate in Britain too. Ultimately it comes down to whether or not people have access to the resources they need to enjoy life (or even to survive). If you are in a country with minimal financial wealth and huge inequality, then it is to be expected that people will take what's free - I don't see that as a bad thing - if anything it shows a liberated intelligence that is not inhibited by guilt.
A great news this is!
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Great news! About time we did this and stopped destroying lives with Universal Credit !!!
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