Upstream on UBI – P2P Foundation

Podcast: Could Universal Basic Income Spell the End of Capitalism?

Economics for Transition — Thu, 28 Sep 2017 07:00:00 +0000

It has been said that it’s easier to imagine the end of the world than to imagine the end of capitalism. That might have been true a decade ago, but today, the end of capitalism is becoming more and more plausible — at times it feels inevitable. In fact, at least half of Americans think that capitalism is a fundamentally unfair system, and over a third have a positive view of socialism. These numbers are rather strange for a society where just uttering the word “socialist” in public a generation ago could cost you your job or get you onto some government list. And when you look at younger generations, it gets even more interesting. A Harvard University survey showed that the majority of millennials do not support capitalism. And in the United Kingdom, similar surveys have found that people are more likely to have an unfavorable view of capitalism than of socialism.

More and more people are falling out of love with capitalism. And is it really all that surprising? Capitalism has failed to achieve most of its promises and many are now beginning to dream about what a different, better world might look like. Well, in this second episode of our 2-part series on Universal Basic Income (UBI), we’ll explore what role UBI might have in transitioning to that different world.

There is an exciting and lively debate taking place among the left right now exploring whether Universal Basic Income would do more to dismantle capitalism or, rather, to prop it up and help to keep it going. For this episode, we’ve assembled another all-star cast of economists, journalists, and authors — we asked them to share their perspectives and to envision what the long-term societal effects of giving everyone a Universal Basic Income might look like.

Would a progressive UBI act as simply another form of welfare, temporarily propping up a fundamentally flawed system, and just serving as another concession to eventually be eroded and gutted by the capitalist class? Or could it be more than that — could it actually fundamentally challenge the current capitalist system and help to dismantle it?

We’ll explore these questions — and many more — in this final episode of our 2-part exploration of Universal Basic Income. Don’t miss it!

Featuring:

Erik Olin Wright – Marxist scholar and sociology professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison
Kathi Weeks – Marxist-feminist scholar, associate professor of Women’s Studies at Duke University and author of ‘The Problem with Work: Feminism, Marxism, Antiwork Politics, and Postwork Imaginaries’
Matt Bruenig – Writer, researcher, and founder of the People’s Policy Project
Richard Wolff – Marxist economist, economics professor Emeritus University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Founder of Democracy at Work, and host of the weekly radio show Economic Update
Doug Henwood – Journalist, economic analyst, and writer whose work has been featured in Harper’s, Jacobin Magazine, and The Nation
Martin Kirk – Co-founder and Director of Strategy at The Rules
Rutger Bregman – Journalist and author of ‘Utopia for Realists: The Case for a Universal Basic Income, Open Borders and a 15-hour Workweek’
Manda Scott- Novelist, columnist, and broadcaster
Juliana Bidadanure – Assistant professor in political philosophy at Stanford University
Sofa Gradin – Political Organizer and Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary University of London

Music:

American Football
J. T. Harechmak
Pele

This is the second in a 2-part series on Universal Basic Income. Listen to Episode 1 here.

This blog post was originally published by Shareable.

Upstream is an interview and documentary series that invites you to unlearn everything you thought you knew about economics. Weaving together interviews, field-recordings, rich sound-design, and great music, each episode of Upstream will take you on a journey exploring a theme or story within the broad world of economics. So tune in, because the revolution will be podcasted.

For more from Upstream, subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher Radio. You can also follow Upstream on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to get daily updates.

Many thanks to Benjamin Henderson for the cover art/header image.

The post Podcast: Could Universal Basic Income Spell the End of Capitalism? appeared first on P2P Foundation.

Podcast: Universal Basic Income – An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Economics for Transition — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 07:00:18 +0000

What if you were paid just for being alive? Just imagine, you are given a check every month for the rest of your life, enough to cover all of your basic needs. You wouldn’t be driving around in a Ferrari or eating avocado toast every day, but you’d be receiving enough to live relatively comfortably. And there’s absolutely nothing you would have to do in order to receive it. How would that change your life? What would you do differently? Close your eyes and just try to picture that for a second.

Okay, if you’re reading this sentence, that means you’ve stopped dreaming and have come back to reality. We have no idea how long you were gone, but don’t worry if it was for a little longer than you had expected. It happens. We understand. There’s a lot to think about there. What a crazy question anyways, right? Getting free money? For the rest of your life? Just for being alive? Crazy.

Or is it? The idea that we’ve been describing has actually been under discussion for centuries, and it has even been experimented with all over the world. In fact, there are actually several versions of it happening right now, at this very moment. Maybe you’ve already heard about it? Chances are you have. Lately it seems as if everybody is talking about it, whether they like the idea or not.

It’s called Universal Basic Income, and it’s the topic of our latest documentary (which is actually a 2-part series, since there’s just so much to cover when it comes to this radical and controversial concept). We spoke with philosophers, economists, journalists, and even random folks on the street, to explore the many questions that come up when you begin thinking seriously about universal basic income. What effect would it have on poverty? What happens when income is separated from work? Would society implode into a dysfunctional dystopia because everybody would just sit on the couch all day and watch Netflix? Or, alternatively, would it be the best thing ever, effectively freeing people from the fear that comes with financial insecurity and enabling them to pursue their most daring dreams and to make their biggest contributions to society?

Join us as we explore these questions and begin to untangle this radical concept. We’ve put together an all-star team of scholars and experts on the cutting-edge of this exciting debate. Whether you’re already an expert or haven’t even heard of the idea, you’re not going to want to miss this one.

Featuring:

Juliana Bidadanure — Assistant Professor in Political Philosophy at Stanford University
Doug Henwood — Journalist, economic analyst, and writer whose work has been featured in Harper’s,Jacobin Magazine, The Nation, and more
Rutger Bregman — Journalist and author of “Utopia for Realists: The Case for a Universal Basic Income, Open Borders and a 15-hour Workweek”
Kathi Weeks — Marxist feminist scholar, associate professor of women’s studies at Duke University, and author of “The Problem with Work: Feminism, Marxism, Antiwork Politics, and Postwork Imaginaries”
Eric Richardson — A recipient of basic income
Evelyn Forget — Economist and professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba and academic director of the Manitoba Research Data Centre

Music by:

Many thanks to Benjamin Henderson for the cover art / header image.

Part 2 of this series will be out in Sept. 2018 and will explore the long-term effects that a progressive UBI might have on our current capitalist economic system.

This post was originally published by Shareable.

For more from Upstream, subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher Radio. You can also follow Upstream on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to get daily updates.

The post Podcast: Universal Basic Income – An Idea Whose Time Has Come appeared first on P2P Foundation.