The universal basic income is a sum of money given to all citizens every month without any condition.
Today I would like to give you my point of view as a student. A week ago, I did a survey with my classmates about universal income.
I found out that half of them did not know what a universal income was. However, after an explanation, more than 3/4 of them wanted this type of remuneration during their study.
Do you know about universal basic income?*
Would you like to receive a basic income during your studies*
I then showed them that it is possible to obtain a universal income thanks to the ACORN Token, a currency built on the Telos blockchain. It is thanks to this currency that we can see that paying this type of income is not supernatural. But is it desirable to introduce a universal basic income?
I thought long and hard about this question during my internship with Christophe Parot.
Previously, I saw a universal basic income as an additional aid for people in precarious situations. However, it turned out that after several researches, I considered it not as a supplement but as a protection. The basic income as I now imagine it allows to fulfill the essential needs to :
1- Fight poverty
2- Facilitate access to education
3- Give time to people who would have lost their job
4- Realize your dreams
1- A universal income where everyone can meet their basic needs. This may seem ridiculous in one of the richest countries but wealth inequalities are still present in France.
2- This social income would allow to compensate all the school fees. Indeed, I notice that more and more people have an activity on Saturdays in addition to their studies.
3- This help would allow people who have lost their job to take time to think about/find a job that suits them without having to do jobs that don't interest them in order to keep paying their bills.
4- An income of this type would allow people to have more free time. It would allow them to work on projects that are important to them, such as volunteer work. Moreover, many jobs are essential in our daily life but are not paid at their fair value in my opinion. The universal income could counter this injustice.
Such a system would be advantageous, but the basic income is not yet in force in France, a country that has been aiming to protect its citizens with numerous aids for a long time.
Before introducing this universal basic income, it would be necessary to reflect on several points:
1- The amount of income paid
2- The beneficiaries of this income
3- The method of financing this income
1- A universal basic income must be identical for everyone. This would allow people to live without worrying about what might happen to them in their work and not be dependent on a job that they are doing because they are forced to do it if they do not yet have sufficient resources or skills to find a job that suits them.
2- The universal basic income would be paid to everyone, one could imagine that the one for children would be distributed to parents to finance their needs until the age of 18. This would replace family allowances. As for elderly people eligible for retirement, I consider that this income would allow them to increase their pension, and in this way, to improve their quality of life... For dependent people, this income would allow them to participate in the costs of accommodation and care.
3- The universal basic income can be created by the disappearance of housing allowances, unemployment benefits, RSA... or by increasing taxes in a traditional economic model. However, new solutions are available to us nowadays. I am thinking of ACORN, which with the help of a smart contract sends you money every day.
You will have noticed that I am very interested in the universal basic income. But I would be happy to hear different points of view.
If you want to know more about this topic, I let you watch the ACORN presentation video and the video to sign up for this income.