Nixon Was A UBI Fan

Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash

Originally posted October 3, 2017.

The podcast 99 percent invisible recently did a great job looking at Basic Income (UBI). Their podcast is definitely worth a listen, if you are a UBI fan, or want to understand it more. It also is packed with great facts.

Did you know, for example, more than 30 years ago in the US the federal government actually tried to establish a universal basic income? Yeah, president Nixon…a republican, tried to establish a $1500 basic income for all Americans. You have to listen to the podcast to hear how that went.

Did you know founding father of the United States, Thomas Paine favored basic income? UBI is as old as and as American as America!

What I like about this episode is how complete they were. Not only did they cover the multi-year start-up-like UBI pilot in the US lead by Y-Combinator, they also followed the existing experiment in Finland, reviewed what critics say about UBI (they have some very good points for why it may not work), and even talked with at least one person participating in the Finnish Experiment.

I’ve said before the UBI solution is a short-sighted one. But it is great in that it is sparking a dialogue that naturally leads to looking at Copiosis.

Give the podcast a listen. It’s worth hearing. While you’re going there, check out Zuckerberg singing UBI’s praises.

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