Posts by Hilary Stace
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The thing about a UBI is it is incremental and so is progress towards it. So something like merging ACC and MoH disability support and funding both by a levy would be a sensible start. Various politicians in European countries are looking at aspects of a UBI and some countries have done some trials. I expect the Basic Income Earth Network and Guy Standing's new book which is about to come out can provide more details.
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Just a note about the use of the word 'citizenship' in this post. I am using it in the context of citizenship theory which is based on human rights ie the access of all people to civil, social, political and economic rights, on an equal basis. These rights are outlined in various United Nations Conventions such as the 1948 UN Declaration on Human Rights. I mainly work in disability studies so I usually reference the 2006 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Its numerous articles describe what citizenship means for disabled people.
So it is definitely NOT about narrow concepts of citizenship based on nationality or ethnicity. Access to citizenship is a universal right for all humans.
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Access: The Universal Basic Income and…, in reply to Mark Hadfield,
I'm not suggesting it will be easy. Neither was the establishment of the welfare state by the first Labour Government. But it was done.
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Access: The Universal Basic Income and…, in reply to krothville,
Does that figure include National Super which forms the major part of the welfare budget?
I guess it depends how much would a capital gains tax, financial transaction tax, death duties and removal of some subsidies to the well off or businesses ('corporate welfare' as the Act Party calls it) etc etc bring in to fund it. It is all 'how long is a piece of string' territory. You need the political will and then you find a way to do it.
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Congratulations to all of us. Even more deserved as the judges for this award were Deborah Hill Cone and Bill Ralston - not known as fans of the lefty stuff which sometimes appears on this site.
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Access: The Universal Basic Income and…, in reply to Fen Tex,
A very good suggestion about having a new needs assessment system for all welfare payments. We could start work on designing a new system for all disability and welfare support straight away. We could start by breaking down the artificial divide between the Ministry of Health and ACC and then have one universal fair, respectful system. We could crowd source the details of such a system via an accessible online discussion tool such as Loomio.
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Maths is not my strong point so I have left out any discussion of how much it would cost in real dollar terms. I don't even know whether we use the UK or US understanding of what a billion dollars means. But the recently quoted $1.2 billion dollars currently going on the accommodation supplement to private landlords, but for which the beneficiary has to apply, could surely be diverted to the beginnings of the UBI.
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Hard News: Crowded houses, in reply to Rosemary McDonald,
Yes, excellent interview about what it is like in the real world.
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Hard News: Crowded houses, in reply to izogi,
You just need to lose your wallet which contains the only photo ID and all the money you have.
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Polity: Decrypting “social investment”, in reply to Tom Semmens,
Mike Smith has been doing a good job with the Fabians for the last couple of years. Most weeks there is a talk by a 'muscular intellectual of the left' or two in a crowded church hall in Wellington and a robust discussion. So these things are happening, but you probably have to seek them out, or start your own.