+
upworthy
More

Money. For free. It's been tested in Canada and India. Now one Dutch city wants to give it a whirl.

The Dutch city of Utrecht wants to run a scientific experiment on its residents.

The researchers want to test a concept known as "basic income." Their hypothesis? People aren't all that bad.


Photo by FuFu Wolf/Flickr.

Basic income is "an income unconditionally granted to all on an individual basis, without means test or work requirement," according to the Basic Income Earth Network, a global network focused on basic income research, education, and advocacy.

The idea is to cut out all the rules and complexity of systems like social security and create a stable socioeconomic floor — a minimum standard of living that's available to everyone, rich, poor, and in between — by simply giving money to people.

To some, it sounds like a fantastic idea. ("I'll vote right now!")


Others, especially those who are generally against government assistance programs, grow prickly at the thought. ("Free money? Try getting a job, leech!")

GIF from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."

The Dutch researchers believe those fears are misguided. In the Netherlands, they say, current welfare policies do something they shouldn't: assume the worst of people.

Jacqueline Hartogs, a spokesperson for the alderman who oversees Utrecht's work and income programs, spoke with Business Insider about the idea:

"The current rules in welfare are bureaucratic and, in a way, based on mistrust. In our scientific experiment, we will approach people with less or no rules, to see whether they still make an effort."

Let's paint a quick picture to see why basic income is an idea at least worth exploring.

Imagine you're one of several dozen worker-shareholders at a technology start-up. Your company is doing something innovative (and doing it well) and has found its place in the market.

Then one day, you get bought out by a giant tech conglomerate and, overnight, your founders join the " three comma club," and you and dozens of worker bees become plain old millionaires — if you're lucky.

Photo by Jan Persiel/Flickr.

If you follow business or technology news, that probably sounds like a familiar scenario. On one hand, it is a fairly common story these days. Though finance geeks call them "unicorns," they've become a lot less rare or mythical than once upon a time.

On the other hand, deals like this are still only slightly more common than winning the lottery. This is a much larger hand. You can slap the entire world in its mostly poor face with this hand.

Technology is reducing the need for a human workforce.

And it's going to continue to do so as we find ways to make it more powerful.

"They took err jerrrbs!" Industrial robots spot weld BMW cars in a factory in Leipzig, Germany. Photo by BMW Werk Leipzig/Wikimedia Commons.

And that's the idea, right? Technology is supposed to make our lives easier. I'd argue that not having to work a job in order to meet our most basic human needs would make life immensely easier.

Technology. Making life easier.

I'd also argue that anyone who desires the perks and comforts of greater wealth will be motivated to work toward that goal.

The ironic thing is most people on earth don't even like their jobs. There's something plainly unsettling about an economy designed to make people unhappy.

But alas, the rules of the economy lag behind technology, and for the time being, financial security for most of us hinges on having jobs.

Former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich explains why this doesn't make entire sense, citing a real-world example:

"[T]he model we're rushing toward is unlimited production by a handful, for consumption by the few able to afford it. The ratio of employees to customers is already dropping to mind-boggling lows.

When Facebook purchased the messaging company WhatsApp for $19 billion last year, WhatsApp had 55 employees serving 450 million customers. When more and more can be done by fewer and fewer people, profits go to an ever-smaller circle of executives and owner-investors. ...

This in turn will leave the rest of us with fewer well-paying jobs and less money to buy what can be produced, as we're pushed into the low-paying personal service sector of the economy."



Based on his views, I imagine Reich would think basic income is a great idea. He even proposes that, in the U.S., it could be paid for, not with higher income taxes, but with a percentage of the profits from all patents and trademarks, which have made some people very rich.

Basic income could solve growing income inequality and poverty in a world where technology makes jobs with living wages harder to come by.

Research by the International Labour Organization shows that, globally, wages are flatlining and more than 200 million people are unemployed. And the lack of a safety net, like basic income, is stoking the flames of social unrest.

The ironic thing is most people on earth don't even like their jobs. There's something plainly unsettling about an economy designed to make people unhappy.

GIF from "Office Space."

But does it have to be this way? There's no telling what sort of world-bettering creativity and innovation could be unleashed if masses of people were freed from working jobs they hate just to survive and have the free will to pursue the things they believe are most important.

"If development is about freedom, one should challenge sceptics to show a better way to expand it."

What better way to find out if basic income works than by actually testing it?

Plus, there are a lot of reasons to be hopeful. A 2013 UNICEF-funded basic income experiment in India resulted in higher economic activity, work, and entrepreneurship; and the socioeconomic boost was especially visible for women, seniors, and people with disabilities.

The researchers also found improved nutrition and health, school attendance and performance, and even sanitation.

A family in Orchha in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Photo by Rebecca Conway/AFP/Getty Images.

But there's more: Basic income was liberating in the most literal sense of the word, with some families being able to escape or make significant strides out of debt bondage.

"The primary value of a basic income would be its emancipatory effect," wrote Guy Standing, one of the researchers behind the UNICEF study. "If development is about freedom, one should challenge sceptics to show a better way to expand it."

A basic income experiment conducted almost 40 years ago in Canada produced amazing results, too. And today, countries like Finland and Switzerland are considering adopting basic income systems.

Let's hope Utrecht gets this experiment off the ground.

Because they wouldn't just be addressing a question of whether all Utrecht residents should have access to a basic and dignified standard of living. They'd also be demonstrating some truth about human integrity.

The gaze of the approving Boomer.

Over the past few years, Baby Boomers (1946 to 1964) have been getting a lot of grief from the generations that came after them, Gen X (1965 to 1980), Millenials (1981 to 1996), and now, Gen Z (1997 to 2012). Their grievances include environmental destruction, wealth hoarding, political polarization, and being judgemental when they don’t understand how hard it is for younger people to make it in America these days.

Every Baby Boomer is different, so it's wrong to paint them all with a broad brush. But it’s undeniable that each generation shares common values, and some are bound to come into conflict.

However, life in 2023 isn’t without its annoyances. Many that came about after the technological revolution put a phone in everyone’s hands and brought a whole new host of problems. Add the younger generations' hands-on approach to child rearing and penchant for outrage, and a lot of moden life has become insufferanble.

Keep ReadingShow less

Klein Kwagga understood the assignment at his sister's concert.

Some kids are too shy to ever want to get on a stage, some will spend most of a performance staring awkwardly at their shoes, and some kids love the opportunity to show off what they've practiced in front of an audience.

And then there are the kids were simply born for the spotlight. You know them when you see them.

When Dirkco Jansen van Nieuwenhuizen hopped on stage with all of the other brothers and sisters of the dance students at René’s Art of Dance in South Africa, no one expected a viral sensation. According to Capetown Etc, it was the school's year-end concert, and siblings were invited to come up and dance to Bernice West’s Lyfie—a popular song in Afrikaans. And Dirkco, who goes by Klein Kwagga, took the assignment and ran with it.

Keep ReadingShow less

Prepare to get Thatcherized.

It seems that Adele is going viral once again.

Perhaps you’ve seen the image in question previously (it seems to make the rounds every couple of years). But in case you missed it—it’s Adele’s face. Normal, just upside down.

Only it’s not normal. In fact, when you turn Adele’s face right side up, what you notice is that her eyes and mouth were actually right-side up THE ENTIRE TIME, even though the entire head was upside down. So when you turn the head right side up, the eyes and mouth are now UPSIDE-DOWN—and you can’t unsee it. Do you feel like you're Alice in Wonderland yet?

Keep ReadingShow less
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

People share the most practical ways to support new parents

There's a lot of preparation that goes into having a child well before they're even born. First there are the physical changes your body makes to clear up some space for a tiny human roughly the size of a watermelon. Then there's preparing the nursery, buying lots of extremely small clothes, diapers and an expected understanding that while sleep may be your friend, you won't be getting any of it for about a year.

Lots of people give plenty of advice to help you cope in the early days but after the baby arrives, the focus shifts to solely the baby. It's obviously not a deliberate shift. Babies are just more shiny and new that the parents. But not everyone forgets about the parents once baby makes their grand entrance–some go out of their way to make sure the parents feel supported.

Upworthy asked its audience, "what was the best non-baby related gift you received as a new parent," and the answers were a masterclass on how to care for new parents.

Keep ReadingShow less
Family

A mom seeks doctor's help for postpartum depression and instead gets a visit from the cops

Too many women lose out on much needed support because of unwarranted stigma.

Canva

Postpartum depression is very common, and treatable.

Jessica Porten recently visited her doctor four months after giving birth to her daughter, Kira. She wasn't feeling quite like herself.

She had been dealing with overwhelming sadness and fits of anger, which she knew was likely stemming from a case of postpartum depression.

In a Facebook post, Porten recounts the story of that appointment.

Keep ReadingShow less
Identity

Formerly enslaved man's response to his 'master' wanting him back is a literary masterpiece

"I would rather stay here and starve — and die, if it come to that — than have my girls brought to shame by the violence and wickedness of their young masters."

A photo of Jordan Anderson.

In 1825, at the approximate age of 8, Jordan Anderson (sometimes spelled "Jordon") was sold into slavery and would live as a servant of the Anderson family for 39 years. In 1864, the Union Army camped out on the Anderson plantation and he and his wife, Amanda, were liberated. The couple eventually made it safely to Dayton, Ohio, where, in July 1865, Jordan received a letter from his former owner, Colonel P.H. Anderson. The letter kindly asked Jordan to return to work on the plantation because it had fallen into disarray during the war.

On Aug. 7, 1865, Jordan dictated his response through his new boss, Valentine Winters, and it was published in the Cincinnati Commercial. The letter, entitled "Letter from a Freedman to His Old Master," was not only hilarious, but it showed compassion, defiance, and dignity. That year, the letter would be republished in theNew York Daily Tribune and Lydia Marie Child's "The Freedman's Book."

The letter mentions a "Miss Mary" (Col. Anderson's Wife), "Martha" (Col. Anderson's daughter), Henry (most likely Col. Anderson's son), and George Carter (a local carpenter).

Dayton, Ohio,
August 7, 1865
To My Old Master, Colonel P.H. Anderson, Big Spring, Tennessee

Keep ReadingShow less