OFTEN THEORIZED AND DISCUSSED BUT RARELY PUT INTO PRACTICE IS

THE IDEA OF A BASIC INCOME, BUT ANOTHER EXPERIMENT IN BASIC

INCOME IS ABOUT TO BE STARTED RIGHT NOW IN FINLAND WHERE THEY

WILL BE TESTING IT OUT WITH ABOUT 2000 OF THEIR CITIZENS.

THE BASIC INCOME IDEA CAN COME IN MANY DIFFERENT FORMS, BUT THE

BASIC IDEA IS THAT PEOPLE WILL RECEIVE GOVERNMENT MONEY, LIKE A

FORM OF A WELFARE PAYMENT OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, REGARDLESS

OF EMPLOYMENT STATUS, A SORT OF MINIMUM INCOME THEY WILL

RECEIVE.

IN SOME EXPERIMENTS IT IS NOT FOR EVERYBODY, IN THIS

CASE IT WILL BE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE UNEMPLOYED, AND THERE ARE

VARIOUS WAYS TO ORGANIZE IT.

BUT THE IDEA IS THAT YOU CAN TO SOME

EXTENT MINIMIZE INCOME INEQUALITY, STIMULATE THE

ECONOMY, AND HELP PEOPLE OUT WHO ARE HURTING THE MOST BY

PROVIDING A MINIMUM INCOME BELOW WHICH THEY WILL NOT FALL.

AND TO

SOME EXTENT WE DO THIS ALREADY, YOU CAN RECEIVE HOUSING AND FOOD

ASSISTANCE, ASSISTANCE ON YOUR HEALTHCARE, WE SIMPLY MAKE IT

TARGETED TO SPECIFIC THINGS IN AMERICA AND MANY OTHER COUNTRIES

RATHER THAN A BASIC INCOME THAT IS REGARDLESS OF WHAT IT IS

GOING TO BE SPENT ON.

THAT IS THE FORM THEY WILL BE TAKING --

BY THE WAY IN THIS CASE THAT INCLUDES UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

THAT THEY ARE RECEIVING.

ONE OF THE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE

CREATION OF THIS --

THE BASIC IDEA IS THAT RIGHT NOW IF YOU ARE RECEIVING

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS AND YOU SEE A JOB THAT IS SHORT-TERM OR

DOESN'T PAY VERY WELL YOU MIGHT NOT WANT TO TAKE THAT JOB

BECAUSE YOU WILL LOSE OUT ON THOSE BENEFITS AND MAYBE NOT BE

ABLE TO GET THEM BACK WHEN THE SHORT TERM OR LOW-PAYING JOB

ENDS, WHEREAS IN THIS CASE IF YOU ARE ALREADY RECEIVING THE

MONEY YOU CAN TAKE THE JOB AND YOU WILL BE OKAY.

IT'S AN INTERESTING EXPERIMENT, I'M CURIOUS TO SEE

HOW IT GOES.

AS YOU MENTIONED EARLIER IT DOESN'T NECESSARILY

WORK FOR ALL COUNTRIES, AND ONE OF MY CONCERNS WAS THE ISSUE OF

INFLATION.

IF YOU HAND PEOPLE MONEY AND THERE ARE MORE

INDIVIDUALS SPENDING, WILL THAT INCREASE INFLATION OR HAVE SOME

NEGATIVE RAMIFICATIONS THAT MAYBE PEOPLE WITH GOOD INTENTIONS

DIDN'T THINK OF AHEAD OF TIME?

I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW HOW

THIS WILL GO, I LIKE THE IDEA OF POLITICIANS IN THE COUNTRY

LOOKING OUT FOR THE PEOPLE AND ENSURING THAT EVERYONE HAS A

DECENT QUALITY OF LIFE, I KNOW SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES HAVE A

LOT OF PROGRESSIVE POLICIES THAT MAKE RIGHT-WING HEADS EXPLODE

HERE IN THE UNITED STATES, BUT STUDY AFTER STUDY SHOWS THAT

THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE IS MUCH BETTER THAN OURS, THEIR OVERALL

HAPPINESS IS BETTER THAN OURS.

SO I LIKE THESE TYPES OF

EXPERIMENTS, AND I'M CURIOUS TO SEE HOW IT PLAYS OUT.

THERE HAVE BEEN OTHERS THROUGHOUT THE LAST FEW DECADES

IN NAMIBIA AND BRAZIL, NORTH CAROLINA EVEN, THE NETHERLANDS.

IT IS NOT NECESSARILY THE SAME THING, BUT ALASKA'S PERMANENT

FUND, WHICH TAKES OIL REVENUE AND GIVES IT OUT TO EVERY

CITIZEN OF ALASKA, SOMETHING LIKE $1000, IS SOMETHING LIKE

THE BASIC INCOME.

ONE CONCERN IS THAT IT COULD LEAD TO PEOPLE

WORKING FEWER HOURS, SOME EXPERIMENTS HAVE SHOWN THAT IT

DOES LEAD TO A REDUCTION IN HOURS WORKED BY 5 TO 7%, I THINK

IF IT MEANS LOWER INCOME INEQUALITY AND PEOPLE AREN'T

STARVING THAT IS NOT NECESSARILY A TERRIBLE THING.

WHAT WE NEED

IS EXPERIMENTS, WE NEED TO RUN IT AND SEE WHAT THE EFFECT IS,

THAT'S WHY IT IS GOOD THAT FINLAND IS DOING IT, BUT I DO

THINK THAT IT IS REALLY WEIRD HOW WE THINK VERY DIFFERENTLY

ABOUT MONEY BEING GIVEN BY THE GOVERNMENT TO A GROUP OF PEOPLE

IF THEY ARE POOR PEOPLE OR IF THEY ARE RICH PEOPLE.

IF IT'S

500 EUROS BEING GIVEN TO SOMEONE WHO IS DEAD BROKE, IT'S LIKE

MAYBE, I DON'T KNOW WHAT EFFECT IT WILL HAVE, MAYBE IT WILL MAKE

THEM LAZY, BUT IF IT IS MASSIVE TAX CUTS FOR THE RICHEST PEOPLE

WHERE WE SHOWER THEM IN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, JUST DO IT, SEE WHAT

HAPPENS, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?

NO ONE IS CONCERNED THAT THE

RICH MIGHT WORK FEWER HOURS IF WE GIVE THEM A TON OF MONEY IN THE

FORM OF TAX CUTS, WE ASSUME THAT THEY WILL KEEP WORKING.

BUT WHEN

IT IS THE POOR, THESE LAZY MOTHERFUCKERS, MAYBE THEY WILL

WORK AN HOUR LESS A WEEK.

THAT IS A WEIRD STEREOTYPE THAT A LOT

OF PEOPLE, EVEN PROGRESSIVES LIKE ME, MIGHT HAVE IF YOU ARE

NOT CONSCIOUSLY THINKING ABOUT IT. AND ALSO ONE OF THE IDEAS WE

MIGHT WANT TO HAVE IS A LOT OF PEOPLE, EVEN IF THEY CAN FIND

A JOB, ARE LOCKED INTO UNSATISFYING WORK WHERE THEY ARE

NOT NECESSARILY PRODUCING TO THEIR TRUE POTENTIAL.

IF PEOPLE

HAVE A MINIMUM INCOME THEY CAN FALL BACK ON, WHICH BY THE WAY

IS NOT GOING TO BE LUXURIOUS, IT WILL BE A SHITTY WAY TO LIVE,

MAYBE THEY CAN AFFORD TO HOLD OUT FOR A WHILE TO GET AN

EDUCATION OR DO SOMETHING ARTISTIC OR START A BUSINESS

RATHER THAN GRINDING IT OUT IN A MINIMUM WAGE JOB SO THEY

CAN HAVE FOOD.

I THINK CULTURE HAS A LOT TO DO WITH THAT, AND AMERICAN

CULTURE, I DON'T KNOW IF IT IS UNIQUE, BUT THERE IS A LOT OF

EMPHASIS ON WORKING AND MAKING MONEY REGARDLESS OF YOUR QUALITY

OF LIFE, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU FEEL FULFILLED.

IT'S ALL

ABOUT WORK, WORK, MAKE AS MUCH MONEY AS POSSIBLE, IF YOU DON'T

THEN YOU MUST BE LAZY, IF YOU ARE UNHAPPY YOU ARE UNGRATEFUL,

FIRST WORLD PROBLEM -- BUT OVERALL IT IS IMPORTANT FOR US

TO CREATE A SYSTEM THAT NOT ONLY LEADS TO A BETTER QUALITY OF

LIFE FOR EVERYONE, LEADS TO PEOPLE PURSUING EDUCATION AND

PURSUING BETTER OPPORTUNITIES FOR THEMSELVES, BUT A TYPE OF

CULTURE THAT ALLOWS YOU TO ENJOY ELEMENTS OF LIFE THAT HAVE

NOTHING TO DO WITH WORK.

AND I THINK WE'VE MOVED SO FAR AWAY

FROM THAT THAT WE HAVE LOST SIGHT OF WHAT LIVING IS REALLY

ABOUT.

IT'S NOT ABOUT WORKING AND TORTURING YOURSELF JUST SO

YOU CAN MAKE ENOUGH TO PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE.

AND I'M JUST GLAD TO SEE BIG PROGRESSIVE IDEAS THAT MIGHT

SUCCEED OR FAIL AT LEAST BEING TRIED SOMEWHERE IN THE WORLD.

BEING A PROGRESSIVE IS NOT JUST SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT PARTISAN

BULLSHIT OR THE DAY-TO-DAY FIGHT IN GOVERNMENT, WE ARE SUPPOSED

TO BE TRYING TO COME UP WITH SOMETHING BIG THAT CAN CHANGE

THE WAY WE LIVE AND IMPROVE, TO PROGRESS, ACTUALLY.

MAYBE IT HAS TO BE SCANDINAVIA BUT I'M GLAD IT'S HAPPENING.

I HOPE THAT AT SOME POINT SOME COUNTRY SOMEWHERE TRIES

SOMETHING LIKE UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE, SO WE CAN SEE

WHETHER OR NOT IT WORKS, AND THEN MAYBE WE CAN ADOPT IT HERE

IN THE UNITED STATES.

PIE IN THE SKY.

GO GET THAT PIE.

JUST TRY IT SOMEWHERE.

IF IT HAPPENS, WE WILL REPORT ON IT.

SOUNDD CRAZY TO ME.