A basic guaranteed income in the context of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

There has been some discussion lately of a guaranteed basic income. Instead of welfare, everyone, regardless of age or wealth will receive a check from the government as basic income for a year.

A guaranteed basic income is mainly a liberal idea and has actually been around a long, long time. It is surprising to see even some conservatives giving serious consideration to the idea. But given how low skill jobs are slowly disappearing at the hidden hand of automation, as a culture, we need to remember that not everyone is an expert. It just isn’t humane to let people starve because they missed the boat, or were not gifted investors with friends in the right places.

Despite the conservative rhetoric that a basic income guaranteed (BIG) would create further dependence on the welfare state, there is significant evidence to the contrary. Radio host and humanitarian Thom Hartmann has taken note of the benefits of a BIG:

A paper published in 2013 looked at two groups in Uganda: one group that received a no-strings attached grant equal to their annual income — about 380 dollars per person — and a control group that received no grant. And what did the unemployed youth do when they were “paid not to work”?

The group that received the grant worked on average an extra 17 hours in comparison to the control group. And they showed a 41% increase in earnings four years after receiving the grant. They invested in skills and…