No to Basic Income, Yes to Basic Services
Every day we work to make money, to sustain our daily life and secure our distant future. Money is tangible in the present, but money might have a total different meaning and value in the near future. Securing your distant future has, until now, always happened in the form of money — putting it aside for later. But, do we know how much we’ll need later? What is enough to sustain ourselves and our loved ones? What if inflation or crises strikes and our money is not worth enough anymore? This insecurity about our future is enforced by current trends of transition towards automation: which may lead to an increase in unemployment, leaving no money for the ones losing their jobs.
From all these discussions, now and in the past, we see one recurring discussion which is proposed as the solution. This proposed solution is Universal Basic Income (UBI).
If you take a first look at UBI it sounds like a great option to solve the mentioned problems. However, it might be too good to be true. For example, would people still be incentivized to work if there is basic income? Can we afford UBI? What does it do to price levels? Does this move the burden to the tax payer? How does this account for economic swings/inflation and the change in orders the transition would bring? — All these questions make UBI more theoretical and less implementable and potentially brings up new problems of insecurity about individual’s distant future.
Therefore, as an alternative, I argue for Universal Basic Services (UBS). Financed by the people themselves. How does that work?
Well, we’re transitioning towards automation. This means we aren’t there yet. In the time being, let’s prepare for it. Let’s invest, together, in assets we need for later. Assets that generate revenue which we can use for the future when it will be needed.
In this model everyone would have fractional ownership in assets. Your investments would always be linked to intrinsic values based on a decentralized structure. So, if you invest in a windmill, no matter what state of the economy, the wind will always blow and you’ll receive your kWh.
Extending this beyond kWh, you can use this model to provide future transport, care, housing and so on. Having these basic services set, in the future you work for ‘fun money’. Just like with basic income, but without the arguments that now hold us back from implementing that.
Extending it to everyone — universal
Basic service also requires we pay more, but hereby can also help the most vulnerable, while everyone benefits by making incomes and markets matter less. This of course puts the burden on the ones paying for it. But, only by recognizing and activating the need to make social effort in return for a promise of a safe distant future, our societies deliver the safety and security to function. To give a clear example of this: if everyone has access to basic services, there’s no need for people to steal it from you. Therefore, I believe it builds both potential and solidarity.
Therefore, let’s explore this option. Experimentation is lacking, both on the concept itself and on how to ensure the sustainability of such social security systems. Furthermore, we need innovation on the distribution of these services in a digitizing world. The experimentation should be aimed at boosting living standards, while reinforcing growth. Otherwise, we still don’t account for economic swings and/or changing economic orders.
Introducing NestEgg
Myself, I’m experimenting with this building NestEgg. The aim of NestEgg is to have you invest in all kinds of ownership projects, that provide you with future revenue streams (like kWh, rent credits, car rides and so on). As a community, you can bring projects to fruition to change your direct surroundings and thereby change your community for the better. Without going through financial institutions, individuals together have the chance to invest in the infrastructure that provides their future welfare. So by the time the automation/unemployment transition is here, we would experience no harm, since we have all our basic services taken care of.
But after all, this must be a common effort. Want join the NestEgg journey?
Feel welcome to reach out. We would love to get in touch.
