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  • In June 2016, Switzerland will vote in a referendum on the topic of introducing a basic income.

  • If passed, all Swiss citizens, working or unemployed, would receive about $2,500 a month

  • as a guaranteed stipend from the government. Switzerland would become the first country

  • in the world to implement such an idea. So, should governments pay their citizens a basic

  • income?

  • Well, there are a large number of variations on the idea of a basic income. Some forms

  • already exist as Social Security for the elderly or impoverished. Others see this in the form

  • of government benefits and assistance, also calledwelfare”. Butbasic income

  • is an unconditional amount of money guaranteed by the government, to every individual whether

  • rich or poor.

  • Proponents of basic income, like the Basic Income Earth Network, say that such security

  • would give people freedom to pursue higher interests, without having to worry as much

  • about pure survival. This is tied to a concept proposed by psychologist Abraham Maslow’s

  • hierarchy of needs”. That’s where a person will value their physical needs over

  • their safety needs, safety over relationships, relationships over self-esteem, and so on.

  • Eliminating the barrier of working for strictly physical and safety reasons is believed to

  • lead to a more utopian society. This also addresses the idea ofwage slavery”,

  • where a person only works for their most basic and immediate survival, making it impossible

  • to stop working, or escape a bad job.

  • However, those who oppose basic income say that such a plan would encourage people not

  • to work, similar to many other arguments against government assistance. An experimental form

  • of basic income was introduced in one Canadian city in 1974, and ran for five years. An analysis

  • revealed that only two groups of laborers saw significant drop offs: teenagers and new

  • mothers. And since teenagers were no longer pressured to work, a larger number graduated.

  • The basic income also led to fewer hospital visits, due to a lack of work-related injuries,

  • and fewer mental health, domestic abuse, and car accident victims.

  • However, some economists argue that it would lead to a loss of low-paid workers. If everyone

  • was able to survive, undesirable jobs like in manufacturing and service would go away.

  • This could lead to a rise in the cost of most goods without a source of cheap labor to produce

  • them. Perhaps ironically, this would prevent those only receiving a basic income from affording

  • those same goods.

  • Moreover, one economic journalist estimated that basic income in the UK could cost as

  • much as $450 billion dollars a year, compared to the $250 billion dollars which their welfare

  • system currently costs. However, advocates say that if implemented correctly, basic income

  • could be a cheaper solution than allocating welfare according to how poor or able a citizen

  • is.

  • But Switzerland is not like other countries. It is one of the richest in the world, with

  • an extremely low tax rate. Even a slight increase in taxes could be tolerable to many citizens,

  • and provide for a much lessimmediate needsfocused society. But it will take until June

  • to see whether most Swiss residents agree with that analysis.

  • In the US Presidential election, candidate Bernie Sanders has been asked about implementing

  • basic income. But instead, Senator Sanders has advocated for raising the minimum wage.

  • Should we raise the minimum wage? Check out this video to find out Thanks for watching

  • Test Tube News, don’t forget to like and subscribe for new videos every day

In June 2016, Switzerland will vote in a referendum on the topic of introducing a basic income.

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政府是否應該支付基本收入? (Should Governments Pay A Basic Income?)

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    むなかた じゅん 發佈於 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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