Posts by Hilary Stace
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Polity: Labour and the Greens in a tree..., in reply to Moz,
ECan
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Access: The Universal Basic Income and…, in reply to BenWilson,
Yes, a more common story than is reflected in our media, TV, advertising etc.
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Yet another reason for a UBI. A US article, but also very close to home. Middle aged middle-class women without work or income and trying to keep up appearances of 'normality'.
http://www.nextavenue.org/unemployed-55-and-faking-normal/ -
I am loath to link to anything which gives publicity to Family First, but this piece inadvertently illustrates another argument for a UBI.
They argue that having parents who are married to each other is better for preventing child poverty. However, I would argue that if each child and adult received a UBI in their own right, children and parenting would be more valued. -
In Michael Moore's latest film, Where to Invade Next, he looks at the US War on Drugs as a manufactured political crisis in order to imprison and disenfranchise the black population - in response to the civil rights movement. Now they are providing slave labour again, in jail, for some big corporates. Some states permanently disenfranchise anyone who has been in jail. He contrasts this with decriminalisation of all drugs in Portugal and interviews some very cool Portuguese cops. Worth seeing the movie to see how he frames this argument.
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What a fascinating thread. Reminded me that when I was young I was very keen on everything witchy. It was the days of TV's Bewitched but there was also a great genre of girls' witch literature with heroines who were powerful and could do magic. I often dreamed of hovering around the school playground by broomstick and it all seemed perfectly normal. This was way before Harry Potter, Hermione and Quidditch but I imagine broomstick flying dreams are quite common these days.
I occasionally dream about having conversations with dead people who have been important to me, and being so happy to see them again. Those dreams can be hard to wake from.
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NZ makes the international BIEN news. Nice to know that NZ can still be known for some internationally enlightened policy thinking
http://www.basicincome.org/news/2016/04/new-zealand-labour-party-considers-universal-basic-income/
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Hard News: The media awards are dead –…, in reply to Russell Brown,
Yay Eczema!
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Access: The Universal Basic Income and…, in reply to Julienne Molineaux,
Thank you Julienne.
With a UBI people wouldn't have to deal with WINZ for survival scraps like they do now. But there would still have to be some fair system to assess and pay out for need above the UBI. It could easily be a much nicer, more benign agency of the state. WINZ as we have now - as the name suggests - was a creation of the neoliberal 1990s to replace a more straightforward idea of Social Security. The last Labour government renamed it Work and Income and there were some attempts to make it more people friendly - but the WINZ name and punitive attitudes still seem to dominate. So yes, we need to improve WINZ regardless of the UBI idea. -
Also this page (below) about research from global enthusiasts. So it is not a new idea and there have even been some solid studies from some 'mainstream social policy people'. The idea is growing. As I mentioned earlier a 'fickle electorate' voted for a welfare state because it was in their best interests, despite considerable antagonism from the better off. A UBI is also about activating democracy.