When I talk or write about basic income, people have many questions on issues such as affordability and impact on the work market. But one question is bigger than all of those:
What would you do if your (basic) income was taken care of?
Because basic income is a new concept for many they have not thought about this question before in this form. But most people have thought about it in a different form: am I happy with my job? And many surveys show that a lot of people are unhappy with their work. Most people though quickly relegate that thought as they don’t see an alternative. They have resigned themselves to the fact that their earlier dreams of what they wanted to do in life will not be realized. The suppression of these thoughts is the basis for a lot of resentment and anger in the world.
The organizers of the Swiss basic income initiative brought this question to the fore today by unfurling the world’s largest poster in Geneva:
I would encourage everyone to ask yourself this question. If the answer is, I would do exactly what I am doing now, then you should consider yourself incredibly fortunate. But for a great many people the answer will be to do something different, including learning something new, doing something they always wanted to do, taking more or better care of friends and family and so on.
“Voting for Freedom” is a timely book that has just been published in English which addresses this existential question. Here is what I wrote in the foreword:
[…] automation has historically been a good thing. If we did not automate many of the tasks in agriculture, we would all still be working in the fields. Now though, many people see automation as a threat. We have constructed so much of our individual lives and our collective culture and economy around work. The prospect that we might be able to automate much of it scares people instead of liberating them.
Daniel Häni and Philip Kovce, the authors of “Voting for Freedom” explore how a basic income frees all of us up to face the biggest question.
So I encourage you all to read “Voting for Freedom” and if you are in Switzerland to make sure you vote in the Referendum. In the meantime if you are in New York City, head to Times Square tonight at 7:45 to watch footage from Geneva on one of the big screens.
