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posted by on Wednesday January 04 2017, @10:48AM   Printer-friendly
from the now-we-wait-and-watch dept.

Basic Income is a subject that regularly surfaces in Soylent discussions, so here's a story about Finland's impending experiment with it:

Finland has become the first country in Europe to pay its unemployed citizens a basic monthly income, amounting to 560 euros ($587 US), in a unique social experiment which is hoped to cut government red tape, reduce poverty and boost employment.

Olli Kangas from the Finnish government agency KELA, which is responsible for the country's social benefits, said Monday that the two-year trial with the 2,000 randomly picked citizens who receive unemployment benefits kicked off Jan. 1.

Those chosen will receive 560 euros every month, with no reporting requirements on how they spend it. The amount will be deducted from any benefits they already receive.

The average private sector income in Finland is 3,500 euros per month, according to official data.

Also at The Guardian and swissinfo.ch.


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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 04 2017, @10:42PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 04 2017, @10:42PM (#449573)

    As usual you keep your head firmly tucked between your butt cheeks. You're a greedy small minded person swallowing lame propaganda and spouting back pseudo-intellectual garbage.

    Explain what is 'fair' about enslaving one group of people to serve the wants and desires of another group?

    I guess it sails way way waaayyy over your head that we currently have 99% enslaved by 1%. Why should the actual workers not get a share of the profits from their work? I thought that was the ideal scenario for you libcons, put in hard work and get your rewards. Right now people put in their hard work and get the bare minimum the company is willing to pay. Its a pyramid scheme with only a little more validity than the actual scam version.

    Greedy bastards just don't want to give up their little empires.

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