Beyond social divisions, corporations and doctrines, we, the signatories of the present call, express our will to contribute to a realistic and constructive transformation of our society: basic income.
What is basic income?
The idea has been long time supported by a great number of personnalities from all political horizons, religions or nationalities. It is known equally as: guaranteed minimum income, citizen’s dividend, citizen's income etc.(cf. Wikipedia )
Basic income shouldn’t be confused with a minimum income, liek it currently exists in countries like UK, or France’s RMI or RSA, and other conditionally allocated allowances. Basic income is by essence, automatic, unconditional, universal and unalienable. Everybody, rich or poor gets it, without even asking for it. It is granted to each individual, from birth to death. Its amount should be enough to guarantee each and everyone a decent living – whatever happens -. It is cumulative with other sources of income (wages or other). It shan’t be withdrawn from the poorest, but the richest will pay taxes on it.
Basic income won’t reward employment, but redefine work in a wider significance.
Neither employment, nor capital income, nor conventional social aid can henceforth claim to guarantee the right to existence of each individual as defined in Article III of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The fact is: due to computerization and automation of production, full employment can not be reached anymore. On the other hand work is still relevant, and its task is huge.
More than ever, it is necessary for each of us to work. First of all, work to take care of ourselves, of our parents, our children and our family, then work to contribute to the common wealth available to all (knowledge, art, culture, software, etc.) and finally work to invent and implement, at all levels, the means that will bequeath a liveable planet to future generations.
Far from encouraging idleness, we claim that a basic income will, in the extent of their capabilities and their desire, engage each one serenely, freely and responsibly in an essential activity for the general interest where traditional jobs are not intended to do so.
How to finance the basic income?
First, one idea to finance basic income is to use all means and resources currently allocated to the pursuit of full employment — and the handling of the failure of these policies. Second, the introduction of basic income will require to reconsider our fiscal and social systems, and probably to regain control over the process of money creation they had surrendered to private banks.
Economists have thought about the question in depth and have made the demonstration that it is definitely possible. There is no need to wait for a disaster to start considering this profound transformation. It can be done smoothly and without damage, provided the awareness and commitment is strong and massive. It is to this commitment that, we, signatories of this call want to tend.
What do we have to lose?
Along with the crisis, the illusion of duly paid employment vanished. The habit to define oneself according to a professional activity will certainly disappear for many people as well.
Our proposal is not a panacea: the introduction of basic income will induce ever more questions about our identity, our role in society, our aspiration to procreate in regard with demographic problems, about the quality of the legacy we want to give to our children.
Basic income does not go without deeply questioning many habits. We nevertheless believe that this shift of consciousness and behaviour can be accomplished without violence, and in a spirit of mutual help to each other in order to develop a new culture of responsibility.
What do we have to gain?
The introduction of the basic income challenges the meaning of “work” as usually understood, namely as the basis of capital and social relations. As we know, reducing “work” to the mere “employment” has the effect of automatically excluding the unemployed, because it induces fear of unemployment among workers and social control of helped people. This confusion between “work” and “employment” has a huge cost for our societies, both financially and socially. The psychological and social pathologies that result are simply not sustainable.
We do not expect basic income will settle all problems, but it is absolutely necessary to overcome the current crisis of mistrust by reducing the intolerable level of poverty, exclusion and fear.
Action
At a time when media daily announce the imminence of disasters due to the breakdown of economies, climat change or pandemics, we claim there is a way to face these issues collectively and to gather the driving forces : this is the path of the unconditional basic income.
We, citizens from various background who have signed this appeal, are asking policians from all horizons, labor unions and experts in Greece and around the world, to consider this option in the shortest term to initiate this big transformation with us.