Implementing Universal Basic Income (UBI) will fundamentally change human society. By ensuring everyone receives the funds necessary for human life unconditionally, poverty and money slavery—the most serious problems facing human society—will be eradicated.
No one will need to live in fear of their social standing, and “fear and anxiety” will disappear from people’s motivations. Various scientific studies have revealed that humans are inherently averse to inequality and reject being forced to do anything. At the same time, they empathize as if possessing the emotions of others, help others selflessly, and cooperate when they find common goals. They are full of curiosity and a thirst for knowledge, they improve their abilities through play, communicate with others, learn, and seek the truth. With the realization of UBI, each individual’s inherent potential will be fully unleashed.
Let’s take optimal action from a global perspective to realize UBI and make it the global standard. Let’s uphold this supreme mission and make the greatest possible contribution to the future society of humanity.
Slavery still persists.
Thanks to humanity’s overwhelming productive capacity, the 15-hour work week predicted by J.M. Keynes 100 years ago has long since become a reality. And even though those involved are aware that roughly half of their wage labor serves no purpose, many people continue to endure injustice, selling most of their lives for low wages, living in fear of the future. Slavery continues, more subtly and widely.
It must be acknowledged that wage laborers were originally created in Industrial Revolution Britain as efficient, disposable slaves. A handful of people bought up vast amounts of farmland, fenced it off, and excluded the population. Those deprived of their means of survival wandered the cities, and were confined to prison-like facilities unless they could perform grueling wage labor in factories. The whips used for slaves were replaced by the fear of starvation for wage laborers. While their treatment has certainly improved, the essence remains unchanged.
Challenges to Realizing UBI
Since the Swiss referendum in 2016, pilot projects for basic income have been implemented worldwide. It’s not uncommon for basic income to be a prominent policy of leading candidates in national elections. And the reality is that AI will take many jobs. The need for income security is clear to everyone.
However, the biggest challenge to realizing UBI is securing funding equivalent to 30% of GDP.
Every country has limited room for tax increases due to high tax burdens. While the idea of taxing the assets of the globally wealthy is valid, no one can foresee when that will be possible. Fundamentally, throughout human history, taxation arose as a more efficient way to collect wealth through violence and plunder. Therefore, it’s always accompanied by conflict and struggle.
Who do you think creates money?
Most money is issued as debt by private commercial banks for their own profit. When a private bank provides a loan, money is created the moment the numbers are printed in the passbook and ledger. Because money is created for the bank’s profit, there is always an extreme concentration of excess money in society as a whole. This is the root cause of the overwhelming inequality and constant economic instability in our economic society. Can this be considered a good rule for human society?
The big problem is that most people are unaware of the obvious fact that “the vast majority of money is created by private commercial banks.” Except for a few economists, even intellectuals don’t point out this problem. First, we cannot find a solution without knowing the facts.
In June 2018, in Switzerland, citizens rose up and collected 100,000 signatures, the requirement for a national referendum, and a vote was held to include a clause in the constitution prohibiting private banks from issuing money.
As G.F. Knapp pointed out nearly 100 years ago, money is simply a creature of law, a publicly recognized social convention. Money, which has now become an object of complete faith, is nothing more than a printed number that appears out of thin air. The challenge to change its fundamental rules has already begun.
If money is a creature of law, what rules would be optimal for human society?
The time has come to discuss this.
HUMAN standard, #CentralBankUBI
Think differently, just like Copernicus
Instead of continuing the debate over taxation, changing the principles of money issuance must be the best solution.
Money should not be issued by private commercial banks for their own businesses, but by public institutions directly to individuals for their livelihoods, stabilizing prices and driving the economy.
There was once a time when money was issued according to the amount of gold held; this was called the gold standard. The current system could be called a dead standard. We must change it to a HUMAN standard. By shifting the fundamental principles, most of the problems facing modern society can be solved.
In an era where technological advancements allow for the production of virtually unlimited goods at minimal cost, we must recognize the fact that only humans can create demand in the economy. The inherent value of human existence is an economic truth. Fundamentally, money should not be issued as a debt requiring repayment. It should be issued to enable people to live authentically. Money is merely printed numbers, created from nothing; fundamentally, we humans are not burdened with any obligations.
Furthermore, as Silvio Gesell once proposed, money that degrades over time, like all natural objects, is worth considering. This would dramatically revitalize the real economy.
We have been forced to believe that human society faces numerous problems and that many people find life difficult because humans are imperfect and immature. However, this is not true. The truth is that society faces many problems and people find life difficult because the rules imposed for the sake of dominaiton are inhumane. Therefore, we must transform inhumane rules into humane ones. We must expand the circle of agreement in this regard.
In this era where democracy has become an unshakeable value, when many people understand that UBI does not require tax increases, the obstacles to its realization will disappear.
Spreading this consensus would be humanity’s greatest contribution to the future of society. Let’s do that.
