For economy of space in the Guardian, I am answering two letters with this one. The topic is basic income guarantee (BIG). Art O’Shea asks: Is there a country anywhere that has what resembles a guaranteed income policy? The answer is Yes: Alaska, Canada, Brazil, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Iran, Kenya, Namibia, India, etc. O’Shea also wonders who would pay for BIG. After a two-year intensive study, involving experts from pertinent fields, a renowned Canadian policy group, Basic Income Canada Network (BICN), published its study on how three models of BIG for Canada could be funded. https://www.basicincomecanada.org/policy_options
Peter Noakes could also access this study to answer his worry about costs. Mr. Noakes, however, allowed his thinking to deteriorate by claiming that those of us asking for BIG seem to be the same people who “oppose any activity that actually produces wealth, in particular in the energy sector. They want to shut it down”. I have been working with basic income guarantee advocates for 17 years (at least). I have never heard in these groups any conversation that would lead to this unqualified conclusion. Mr. Noakes is welcome to his view of how the world can get to abundant, affordable, reliable energy. If he thinks that anyone who thinks differently from him is deluded, that’s his choice. I can tell him though that I find it a little comical for him to classify as “deluded” any of the people I work with on basic income guarantee. Not a deluded one among us.
Thanks to Art O’Shea and Peter Noakes for bringing out the cost concerns which we all have about basic income guarantee.
Marie Burge,
Mermaid
