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+--- Thread: Swiss To Vote On Giving Everyone A Basic Income (/showthread.php?tid=158631)
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Swiss To Vote On Giving Everyone A Basic Income - haikuman - 10-06-2013
Life is good *(:>*
http://www.carbonated.tv/news/switzerland-to-have-vote-on-income-for-everyone
In the midst of all the debate over the government shutdown, one of the key problems that has been shown is the government paying its own workers, especially those who are not working right now. Only today did Congress and the White House agree to give those "non-essential" federal workers back pay. But what would happen if the government not only paid their workers, but everyone who was a citizen? The Swiss public may vote to make that idea, that of a basic income for everyone, a reality.
In the Swiss capital of Bern, a grassroots organization called Generation Basic Income led an effort to establish a basic income for every Swiss citizen, unconditionally. Due to the nature of Swiss politics, and similar to how politics work in some states in the US, citizens are able to place a referendum on the national ballot, provided they have the required 100,000 signatures. These votes happen a couple times a year, detached completely from the government's business. Consequently, this had led to such efforts varying from the good (decriminalizing marijuana, as of a few days ago), to the bad (banning minarets, and essentially mosques).
With Generation Basic Income, the organization seeks to establish a level of income equality, at a time when the rich get extremely rich and the middle class just become poor. The referendum offered to the Swiss government would require that every Swiss adult would receive a monthly income of 2,500 Swiss francs, or $2,750. If that seems incredibly high to you, know that the costs of living in Switzerland are incredibly high: To give an example, the iPhone 4S, still sold in Switzerland, costs around $500, before taxes, whereas here it was being sold for $100. $2,750 per month would enough for most people to get by in Switzerland. It would be equivalent to getting a little under $600 per month in America.
Re: Swiss To Vote On Giving Everyone A Basic Income - freeradical - 10-06-2013
If it passes, the cost of rent will double there.
Re: Swiss To Vote On Giving Everyone A Basic Income - Carm - 10-06-2013
Little good can come of it. Subsidized income. Crazy talk. They need to change the laws that caused the middle class to become poor. Is it overtaxing the middle class and tax loopholes/breaks for the rich?
Re: Swiss To Vote On Giving Everyone A Basic Income - anonymouse1 - 10-06-2013
Umm, seems like the cost of rent can double only if the demand doubles, no?
It might create an inflationary bubble for a while, I'd guess. On the other hand, maybe it will increase employment if people spend it instead of saving it. And I'd guess anyone living on guaranteed income will need to spend it--they're broke!
Re: Swiss To Vote On Giving Everyone A Basic Income - Paul F. - 10-06-2013
freeradical wrote:
If it passes, the cost of rent will double there.
If they're lucky, that's the worst that will happen.
Why not just legislate everyone into being millionaires? Wouldn't that solve that pesky high cost of living? (the sad part is, some people actually believe that's the way it works...)
Re: Swiss To Vote On Giving Everyone A Basic Income - Mike Johnson - 10-06-2013
That's more than Alaska gives its citizens, but it's not qualitatively different.
Re: Swiss To Vote On Giving Everyone A Basic Income - sekker - 10-06-2013
Isn't this true in some countries like Kuwait?
Re: Swiss To Vote On Giving Everyone A Basic Income - Speedy - 10-06-2013
Mike Johnson wrote:
That's more than Alaska gives its citizens, but it's not qualitatively different.
That's where the Swiss got the idea.
Re: Swiss To Vote On Giving Everyone A Basic Income - Lux Interior - 10-06-2013
Speedy wrote:
[quote=Mike Johnson]
That's more than Alaska gives its citizens, but it's not qualitatively different.
That's where the Swiss got the idea.
Good God!
What socialist-pinko-commie-dictator was the governor of Alaska when this happened?
Re: Swiss To Vote On Giving Everyone A Basic Income - kd - 10-06-2013
Over 40 years ago the science fiction writer Mack Reynolds postulated a society that granted everybody a guaranteed basic income in the form of dividend-yielding "inalienable basic stock". His story "A Criminal in Utopia" from 1968 also had voice recognition computers, wristwatches with video displays, self-driving cars, fingerprint access for credit cards, and centralized government databases.