Opening Insights
Is a life without work a dream or a nightmare?
Of all the factors fueling the rise of populism on the far left and right, the single biggest one is the disappearance of fulfilling, decently paying jobs for those who didn't graduate from elite universities and don't live in the country's very richest metropolitan areas. First, globalization led to the outsourcing of jobs and the collapse of the manufacturing sector, leaving behind mainly lower-paying and less rewarding service-sector jobs. And now, automation is poised to decimate the service sector as well...
Pocket Wisdom Insights (PWI) invites you to explore the following Co-Lab Blog.
This blog features parts of an influential and insightful article written outside of the PWI Co-Lab
by Damon Linker on 28 April 2017, published by The Week.
We have republished this content in respect of the author’s vision, message and research.
Informational Insights
...The traditional center-right denies the existence of any problem at all, or else perversely blames it on lingering inefficiencies in the market, arguing that all would be well if only creative destruction were permitted to run its course with even less government interference. Meanwhile, the traditional center-left at least acknowledges the problem but sees no way of stopping the process or even slowing it down. It therefore proposes little beyond various small-bore, cosmetic policies designed to minimize the worst of the immediate pain (extended unemployment benefits; job training).
The populist left, however, is pushing a proposal that has begun to receive a surprising amount of attention: Universal Basic Income (or UBI for short). The idea (discussed most recently in a thoughtful and sympathetic essay by George Scialabba in Commonweal) is for the government to provide a regular check to every American to serve as an income floor, preventing the debt spiral, poverty, hunger, and worse that can ensue when income disappears with the loss of a job.
Proposals for various kinds of UBI programs have been kicking around for literally hundreds of years, with some of them endorsed by a surprising range of writers and thinkers. With globalization and automation eliminating whole classes of work and driving down labor force participation rates to levels unseen since the late 1970s, the idea seems newly relevant. Might a UBI save us from the worst consequences of worklessness?
Possibilities for Consideration
Take a moment and examine…
- As you reviewed the material above, what stood out to you?
- What is the potential impact, economically and/or socially?
- What action is needed to stop or support this idea?
- You may want to consider whether you:
- want to be aware of,
- should become supportive of,
- would want to be active in this topic?
Add Your Insight
I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
Being willing is not enough; we must do.
LEONARDO DA VINCI