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from the handouts-instead-of-gov't-jobs-or-worker-owned-cooperatives dept.
Common Dreams reports
As a way to improve living standards and boosts its economy, the nation of Finland is moving closer towards offering[1] all of its adult citizens a basic permanent income of approximately 800 euros per month.
[...] The monthly allotment would replace other existing social benefits, but is an idea long advocated for by progressive-minded social scientists and economists as a solution--counter-intuitive as it may first appear at first--that actually decreases government expenditures while boosting both productivity, quality of life, and unemployment.
[...] The basic income proposal, put forth by the Finnish Social Insurance Institution, known as KELA, would see every adult citizen "receive 800 euros ($876) a month, tax free, that would replace existing benefits. Full implementation would be preceded by a pilot stage, during which the basic income payout would be 550 euros and some benefits would remain."
[...] Under the current welfare system, a person gets less in benefits if they take up temporary, low-paying or part-time work--which can result in an overall loss of income.
[...] As Quartz reports, previous experiments with a basic income have shown promising results:
Everyone in the Canadian town of Dauphin was given a stipend from 1974 to 1979, and though there was a drop in working hours,[PDF] this was mainly because men spent more time in school and women took longer maternity leaves. Meanwhile, when thousands of unemployed people in Uganda were given unsupervised grants of twice their monthly income, working hours increased by 17% and earnings increased by 38%.
[1] Link to The Independent in TFA was redundant IMO.
...and, before anyone shouts SOCIALISM!, this is actually Liberal Democracy (of the Bernie Sanders type).
An actual move toward Socialism would subsidize the formation of worker-owned cooperatives. An initiative to do that was floated in 1980. 5 percent of taxes would have gone into a pool (kinda like USA's Social Security fund). The Finns rejected it. Source: Prof. Richard Wolff
(Score: 4, Informative) by eapache on Tuesday December 08 2015, @12:52PM
I'd take the basic income and go fishing every day
Except that's exactly what the experiments have shown *didn't* happen. In Dauphin some work time was lost primarily by people going back to school (presumably in order to work more productive jobs later) and in Uganda working hours actually went up.
(Score: 1, Troll) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday December 08 2015, @01:28PM
Experiments? Pfft... I'd be fishing. Bet on it.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 08 2015, @01:40PM
> Experiments? Pfft... I'd be fishing. Bet on it.
I think that is the essence of the conservative mindset: "Everyone else is exactly like me and I am a total loser so everyone else is too."
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday December 08 2015, @06:46PM
Who said I was a conservative, slappy? I'm a proper, oldschool meaning of the word, liberal. You know, the word rooted in Liberty. As in the liberty to do as you like with the products of your labor instead of having it taken from you by big brother for those too lazy or inept to earn their own.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 08 2015, @09:41PM
A Conservative believes that things are pretty much OK the way they are.
He believes in fair play and slow, measured change if the status quo is to be altered.
A huge percentage of those who call themselves "conservative" are actually of the radical Right (Authoritarian Plantation Capitalists); the term for that is Reactionary.
A Progressive believes things are currently messed up and wants change to come faster.
A Liberal believes in these kind of giveaway programs being discussed here in order to keep the masses somewhat contented.
Liberals are Right-Center.
People who are of the you're-on-your-own, pull-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps variety are Right-leaning Libertarians.
A word often used to describe them is Randian. [xkcd.com]
The tooltip is the nugget there.
If you don't have tooltips enabled (nothing pops up when you hover over the image), check out the Properties for the image.
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday December 08 2015, @11:14PM
Is, not was. Hence my qualification. Yes, today I fall somewhere in the libertarian camp. Any time before Bush Jr., I would have been considered a liberal socially and any time before FDR's socialist ass I would have been considered a liberal fiscally.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 4, Touché) by SanityCheck on Tuesday December 08 2015, @02:02PM
Maybe Finns are just different people than you, time will tell.
Personally I would still work, or open my own company staffed initially with like-minded individuals also on Basic Income, so our initial overhead would be very low since I don't have to cover their salaries.
Scandinavian countries have been showing us different way of doing things for decades. It's very refreshing. If the culture wasn't so alien (I don't think I can survive another culture shock in my life), the weather was nicer, and my family and friends weren't all in the U.S. I might move their and try it their way.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by VLM on Tuesday December 08 2015, @04:17PM
Lots of people make lots of money off sport fishermen. The Buzzard is trying to be funny but going fishing would be economically useful. I hope he takes nice long fishing trips at expensive resorts in rented boats with hired guides and pays his state DNR fishing license and buys all kinds of gadgets and gear.
Right now there's probably some dude doing something he hates thinking "I'd hand tie artificial fly lures all day if I thought I could make ends meet" and with a BI that's exactly what he'll do and then Buzzard will boost the economy by purchasing his hand tied fishing lures.
The guy at Gander Mountain who sells line, hooks, and boats loves Buzzards idea, the guy who delivers fishing bait to the rural convenience store love Buzzard's idea, heck yeah Buzzard go fishing, that's great for the economy.
Now I feel like going fishing. This is as bad as when we talk about food then I get hungry. Start with renewing my license, I guess...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday December 08 2015, @06:28PM
No way man, I got my own boat last month. Witness my dance of joy! No, it does not either look like the Snoopy dance.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Wednesday December 09 2015, @01:17AM
Last time I went to a Subway, it was a man behind the counter.
-- hendrik
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday December 09 2015, @01:42AM
No worries, I won't judge you.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by TobascoKid on Tuesday December 08 2015, @01:39PM
I think the problem with the experiments is that they don't really model an entire nation getting a basic income. That it's an experiment is part of the problem - no one is going to jack their job in because they know the experiment is going to end at some point and the free money will disappear. I'm also not sure that a single small town or a small random group of unemployed people is all that representative of an entire nation.
No one will really know if BI can work until some country pulls the trigger and a few decades have passed. I have a feeling that Finland would be a terrible country to pull the trigger on it's own (it's not in full control of either its welfare policy or its currency, and I think a country would need full control of both for BI to have a hope of working) and I don't see an EU/EZ basic income happening anytime soon.