CYPRUS: President announces “Guaranteed Minimum Income” program

[AEON]

I thought this was interesting since we just talked about it another thread recently...

President announces “Guaranteed Minimum Income” program

The president of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, has announced the creation of a “Guaranteed Minimum Income” for all citizens. The president said, “Beneficiaries will be all of our fellow citizens who have an income below that which can assure them a dignified living, irrespective of age, class or professional situation.” According to Cyprus Mail, the policy will begin in June 2014. The exact level of the grant will be determined between now and then, but every citizen would be guaranteed “the minimum needs for a dignified living in a European Country.”

If the program goes into affect as described, it will be the world’s first full “Basic Income Guarantee” (BIG) as defined by the U.S. Basic income Guarantee Network: “government ensured guarantee that no one’s income will fall below the level necessary to meet their most basic needs for any reason.” However, the details of the program available so far indicate that it will be the negative income tax version (NIT) and not the basic income (BI) version of BIG. The difference is that NIT gets everyone to the minimum by paying only those whose incomes are below some minimum level, while BI gets everyone to the minimum, pay paying all citizens regardless of means. What will actually happen remains to be seen.

[Dfit00]

Given that Cyprus is a small country with a small population, achieving a low Gini coefficient that ensures economic equality among its citizens is feasible.

However, it's hard to believe that most Cypriots will take this proposal as something seriously.

[KhanadaRhodes]

oh, now they do this.

[Kieran McConville]

A harbinger of the future, possibly. Cyprus of all places though; curious.

[AEON]

Originally Posted by Kieran McConville

A harbinger of the future, possibly.

This - we can agree on.

[Kieran McConville]

What I can't picture is what happens to the politics of a country when/if 'employment' becomes a bare-majority or outright minority status, but where public rhetoric still talks the language of 'work'. Not sure where that ends up.

[AEON]

Originally Posted by Kieran McConville

What I can't picture is what happens to the politics of a country when/if 'employment' becomes a bare-majority or outright minority status, but where public rhetoric still talks the language of 'work'. Not sure where that ends up.

It is my hope that politics will start endorsing more Big Project type of work - building new types of infrastructure like a driverless car freeway system, hyperloops, restoring run down cities (removing trash and wires, planting trees and gardens), desalination - and then bringing that into the deserts, ocean and space colonization. I think "employment" of the future will be more project based.

People will ask "where will the government get the money to do this?" I think the better question is "where will we get the resources to do this?" I think that as 3D printing gets cheaper and more efficient (along with molecular manufacturing), as solar power become dirt cheap in about 10-15 years, and technology is allowed to reduce the cost of medical care - then these Big Projects are entirely feasible - and that will solve the what will people do with their time problem.

[LJT]

Surely if technology and that can solve the big issues such as poverty and hunger in the world, what is the worry about having time for ourselves rather than work? I don't think humanity would slump into a stupor. I think we would probably (well I hope) more productive doing the things we want to do. Having to have our time filled by work is just a left over ideal from the whole 'the devil makes work for idle hands'. Though I do in general agree with the idea of the large scale projects. There are better things we can be doing with our time and money than starting another coffee chain.

[Kieran McConville]

Originally Posted by LJT

Surely if technology and that can solve the big issues such as poverty and hunger in the world, what is the worry about having time for ourselves rather than work? I don't think humanity would slump into a stupor. I think we would probably (well I hope) more productive doing the things we want to do. Having to have our time filled by work is just a left over ideal from the whole 'the devil makes work for idle hands'. Though I do in general agree with the idea of the large scale projects. There are better things we can be doing with our time and money than starting another coffee chain.

I would tend to agree with all of this. Only thing is, right now, politics, the language of public policy and rhetoric, is about jobs. Jobs at any cost. This can't last, and so it looks to me a bit like:

1. Sound of crashing paradigm
2. A lot of very angry people
3. ?????
4. Post-work future of self-fulfilment on a bed of technologically-gifted post-scarcity

[Galeongirl]

Perhaps they should start fixing the corruption first... that would save a lot of money and prevent them from going bankrupt. It's like Greece all over again..

[Dfit00]

Originally Posted by LJT

Surely if technology and that can solve the big issues such as poverty and hunger in the world, what is the worry about having time for ourselves rather than work? I don't think humanity would slump into a stupor. I think we would probably (well I hope) more productive doing the things we want to do. Having to have our time filled by work is just a left over ideal from the whole 'the devil makes work for idle hands'. Though I do in general agree with the idea of the large scale projects. There are better things we can be doing with our time and money than starting another coffee chain.

Economic growth in developed nations is triggered by the generation of new ideas and not necessarily by workload of things that are already done.