Some Thoughts of Basic Income (for Global Citizenship Class)

Basic income is simply a proposal calling for people to receive a sum of money each month or whenever in order to make sure that everyone has enough money to live a dignified life, to live according to our basic human rights. That some people in the world are permitted to live according to their human rights, while others are not (because they do not have enough money to do so) is completely unacceptable. A basic income would go a long way towards changing this situation. Furthermore, in consideration of technological underemployment, a basic income is necessary to keep our economies moving. In other words, as computers and robots are eliminating human jobs, people just do not have enough money to buy things. This causing the economies in many countries to slow down. By giving people money to spend, we will be able to keep the economy going while also allowing people to have more time to do what they want to do. After all, what is money but numbers on a piece of paper or in a computer, nothing more than an illusion of value.