Basic income

instead of calculating solely based in monetary terms, I am interested in understanding what income we may have access to, as defined in

"both monetary and non-monetary consumption ability"

- basic right to shelter ?

- basic right to food and water ?

- basic right to ... access to internet ?

- basic right to hygiene ?

...

How do we acquire such basic rights ?

How does it work in distributed networks of sharing ?

further links :

http://www.delicious.com/deliciousdante/basicincome

= Letter =

"Relate basic income to use value standards"

archived message...

-- Forwarded message -- From: Dante-Gabryell Monson  Date: Mon, Apr 12, 2010 at 5:50 PM Subject: basic income : use value standards, basic income units, housing cooperatives, etc To: fyeg_green_economy_wg - at - listen.jpberlin.de

I agree with Livia - it will be a long process, and we can not define everything today,

but indeed, I hope that at least some guidelines will be set today.

I feel that Laura created a very interesting set of guidelines, which open up an entire year of more specific definitions.

I allow myself to add some more suggestions and specifics, perhaps for subsequent revisions of the draft Laura wrote.

In this email, in addition to my last email

1 ) - who can claim a basic income ? ( defining further, based on the second point of the draft : " It must be paid universally to every person in a defined community. " ) 1b ) - basic income for nomads ? 2 ) - basic income "currency", including its use to pay property taxes 3 ) - incentives to encourage mobility, re-development, or avoid concentration of population : set minimum EU standards, that can be increased by local governments 4 ) - basic income related to use value standards ( discussion and attempt at defining further, based on the third point of the draft : " It must be sufficient for living, which is more than covering the basic human needs." ) 5 ) - basic income supporting local economics and not for profit and locally owned cooperative organizations, in turn supporting local ownership of means of production and the local employment opportunies 6 ) - basic income not replacing and added as a complement to other forms of social rights and support 7 ) - basic Income currencies 8 ) - Policies to reduce potential of inflation induced by increase of revenues of the less rich

---

1 )

I ask myself, what are the conditions to receive the right to a basic income ?

A EU citizenship, or simply the presence on EU territory ? Anyone being on EU territory for a period longer then 3 months, independently from their official "legalization" or not ? In such case, who would process and manage such "rights to access basic income" ? Would everyones files be covered by "professional secret", as in the case of doctors in relation to medical patients, or lawyers, or psychiatrists, ... ?

1b ) some people might not live in one place for a longer period of time, or might choose to be living a nomadic lifestyle;

I believe that such people should not need to be excluded from a basic income, even if they do not have an official residency.

If everyone in the european union is granted a basic income, and if the monetary cost related to covering such basic income changes according to regions,

perhaps the easiest might be to issue a basic income, not in euros, but in various "basic income units", directly related to use value ( housing units, electricity units, water units, etc ) Such units could be exchanged by companies against euros, or kept as such for other exchanges. If they exchange them in euros, they would need to pay taxes on them.

2 )

If people already own a house, and do not need to rent a place, they would not need extra housing points/units/currency.

The people that rent out housing because they have extra property, could receive "housing currency units" in payment, and then decide to exchange them for euros to the governmental body ( but with a percentage loss in value in the exchange / a tax ), or directly re-use them in the form of payment of other taxes without loss of value, or for other payments by anyone accepting the units.

3 ) A minimum basic income use value standard could be set at a european level, but regional or national states could decide to increase it further, to eventually attract people to their region and promote local development of their region. ( re-investing the units they issue and distribute into local production cooperatives )

4 )

Relate basic income to use value standards

such as a certain amount of electricity and other forms of energy sources ( such as for heating, adapted to climate conditions ) , rights to the use of local public transportation, amount of housing space, quality of renovation of the housing space, food prices, etc

4b ) Further explanations :

One other aspect I would like to add, in relation to "basic income", and its relations with the commons and alternative currencies,

is related to the views that FYEG would like to further in relation to "property", and "rent" related to property.

I already mentioned it in one of my points in reply to Laura's draft on basic income :

people that do not already have property, but would need to rent, might not be able to assure themselves as well basic living as people that already own property. Hence the importance to not only consider potential taxes on financial speculation, but also consider taxes on speculation related to property, such as housing.

In certain cities, such as Brussels, prices of housing was growing exponentially, without value created.

It grew even when peoples salaries did not grow, only based on the potential for people with property to guarantee their existing property to further speculate by buying other properties, creating "bubbles" in the housing sector, which then reduces the quality of life of a majority of people wanting to rent or buy, reducing their living space or taking an increasing percentage of their total income. ( in Brussels, people can easily spend more then half of their income on renting a small apartment ).

In Belgium, there is already a system of "minimum income" ( when one does not work, or does not receive unemployment money ), set at around 720 euros a month if you live alone, but although it may have been enough money to survive with a few years ago, in Brussels, today the entire "minimum income" would need to be spent into housing costs alone, even if there is an increase of the minimum income based on the inflation index. ( but the inflation index is unequal as different regions have different levels of inflation - furthermore, housing inflation is only included at a much lower percentage of th total inflation index )

This is a risk one can have also with a "basic income", if it is not related to "use value" standards.

5 ) - Local currencies backed by the basic income ( which are backed by its use for the payment of taxes for basic income ), - promoting the investment of basic income into access to a share of the production infrastructures property ( but not accumulation of such shares, although ceilings would need to be defined ) - Local currencies backed to support local economics

6 )

I believe it is important that basic income does not replace existing social rights and support. In Laura's draft, this can be found on page 2 : " Furthermore, it has to be complemented by additional social benefits for the especially needy, like chronically ill, single parents, the disabled."

For example, in Belgium and other european countries, I believe it should be able to topple up unemployment forms of income, or topple up and complement minimum social income. In current regulations, in Belgium, one is supposed to deduct any other form of income from the minimum last resort social income. Basic income should not be deductable.

7 + 8 )

To avoid inflation of resource prices, such as housing, as a consequence of an access to basic income, special policies could be implemented - such as issuing "basic housing income currencies".

Such specific currencies could enable,

- increased transparency and reduced inflation in the field of housing rent and housing property purchases, by combining it with policies that enable the taxation of rent inflation and housing speculation,

- promote access ( but not accumulation ) to property to each individual or family, by enabling loans in the form of "basic income units" for the purchase of shares in local social housing cooperatives, through units of basic housing income guaranteed by the governing entity. ( local, regional, national or european ? )

- reduce property accumulation by heavily taxing property which is rented out by private companies or individuals. Such policy might be more easily enforced as a majority of the population might start using basic income housing units to cover the purchase of its housing cooperative shares ( shares that enable it to have access and use a property within the social housing cooperative ) while promoting

-

I feel like forwarding below an interesting paper in relation to "rent " which I will add to the links :

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AURcLumFmdOJZDNnOTkzZF8yZHA1Nzg2ZnE&hl=en

-- Forwarded message -- From: Variant  Date: Sun, Apr 11, 2010 at 11:25 PM Subject: [My-ci] The Tyranny of Rent - Variant, issue 37, Spring / Summer 2010 To: my-ci - at - orgnets.net

Variant, issue 37, Spring / Summer 2010 http://www.variant.org.uk ...the free, independent, arts magazine. In-depth coverage in the context of broader social, political & cultural issues.

Neil Gray ...responds to Eliot M. Trettter’s article ‘The Cultures of Capitalism: Glasgow and the Monopoly of Culture’ (Antipode: 2009). Tretter’s work, deeply influenced by the research of urban theorist David Harvey, can be seen as a continuation of the critical vein of historical geographical materialism. But, Gray argues, Tretter’s "narrow emphasis on the monopoly aspects of culture and representational issues omits other forms of monopoly and underplays the still central question of labour in the valorisation of capital. However, Tretter's re-appraisal of the Workers City group, and his appeal for their enduring relevance, provides a platform from which to analyse a continuum of dispossession that has never stopped and to bring important lessons from the contested past into a productive and critical relationship with this present era of recession and financial crisis."
 * The Tyranny of Rent

text http://www.variant.org.uk/37texts/13RentTyranny.html pdf http://www.variant.org.uk/pdfs/issue37/V37rentyrany.pdf

Eleonora Belfiore Taking Harry G. Frankfurt's essay 'On Bullshit ' as its starting point, Belfiore explores the analysis of bullshit and the prevalence of bullshitting in the contemporary public sphere. Frankfurt's short essay provides an intellectual framework to interpret and understand contemporary rhetoric and practice in the cultural policy field, as well as recent trends in cultural policy research. Through a discussion of selected UK cultural policy documents, the article aims to show that many of the key actors in the cultural policy debate indeed display the 'indifference to how things really are' and the cultivation of vested interests which Frankfurt attributes to the activity of bullshitting. In conclusion, Belfiore spells out the implications of the present status quo for 'critical' cultural policy research.
 * On bullshit in cultural policy practice & research

text http://www.variant.org.uk/37texts/3PolicyPractice.html pdf http://www.variant.org.uk/pdfs/issue37/V37incultpol.pdf

Variant, issue 37, Spring/Summer 2010 http://www.variant.org.uk

Contents

Editorial

Radical Change In Culture / Manifesto

On bullshit in cultural policy practice & research Eleonora Belfiore

Remembering Brian Barry Femi Folorunso

Launch of ‘Friends of Belge’ : An Appeal for Solidarity Desmond Fernandes

Print Creations Comic & Zine reviews Mark Pawson

Doodley-doo? Doodley don’t! Life and Sabotage Gesa Helms

Comment : "Art Workers Won’t Kiss Ass" Owen Logan

Precarious Labor: A Feminist Viewpoint Silvia Federici

Overidentification and/or bust? Stevphen Shukaitis

Learning to Breathe Protest Salong, Interflugs, Academy of Refusal, 10th Floor

‘We have decided not to die.’ On taking and leaving the University Marina Vishmidt

The Tyranny of Rent Neil Gray

--- Variant ...in-depth coverage in the context of broader social, political & cultural issues.

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