Should We Have Universal Basic Income in America?
An OpEd by Benjamin Torres, Co-Founder of Impactish
A few short weeks ago, had you asked me what UBI was, I would have responded with some off the cuff remark about needing to go see a doctor. As we explored this issue and this topic I did my due diligence and research on the topic and became more and more intrigued by the concept.
I have watched lots of videos and read many articles that are either for or against as well as some that were realistic and balanced about the prospects and net results of a UBI program here in the USA or abroad.
When I first heard it, I was skeptical. A new kind of welfare… a burden on the middle class (the little of it that is left)... and, of course, the old why would I go to work?
However, being a huge SciFi fan, I also started to explore the benefits of a society where personal achievement, purpose and growth are tantamount to its core beliefs in self - and how a nation could benefit from such a principled approach. Will other people in the USA be as open minded to consider the pros and cons of such a policy?
I also remember reading about how difficult FDR had it in convincing congress to pass the Social Security Act in 1935 and was seen as a Socialist for doing so. Or LBJ in 1965 getting the Medicare and Medicaid Act of 1965 passed. There was an incredible amount of opposition. Now Americans cannot see a future without these programs in them.
What if people that were at the poverty level were given this opportunity? What if we provided some basic income that alleviated the pressures of poverty and allowed people to pursue their passion? What would the majority of those people do with this benefit?
Studies so far have been small in number and mainly done overseas. However, some have been conducted right here in the USA.
Mayor of Stockton, CA Michael Tubbs posted these results from their study.
You can read his POV in this NPR article here.
Another great article by Mashable titled Every U.S. City Testing Free Money Programs can be found here.
To get a full 360 on this topic please read our Co-Founder, David Steen’s article on UBI, here.
Plenty of research out there for you to come up with your own informed thoughts on this topic. I encourage you to do so, as I have.
A Simple Case Study
TheNation.com posted an interesting premise that I believe could be an interesting test case for such a study.
3 Basic test cases:
#1 An allowance for every child of $2,500 per year.
#2 A $12 an hour minimum wage (which I personally believe should be $15)
#3 Twelve weeks medical leave and 2 weeks paid annual leave
I won’t use this post to argue the pros and cons. I will simply state that considering how much money we send overseas to help other countries, we should look hard internally and ask ourselves why our own citizens are not worth investing in.
What would happen if we started to look within and solve some basic issues around our own country. What if we began to address these issues with progressive ideas that merit discussion and testing?
For me, as a novice on the topic, I find this concept to be worthy of further exploration. At some level there are several UBI concepts that can easily be applied in the USA and create a more productive society and with better programming than what exists today.
I encourage you to read and discuss the topic and answer this question for yourself. You will be slightly ahead of the impending question which will be posed within this generation.
Should We Have Universal Basic Income in America?
