Living Income Guaranteed!!

QUOTE:

WHAT IS L.I.G.?
The Living Income Guaranteed is the provision of an actual ‘Living Income’ for each eligible citizen – an income that provides a reasonable level of financial security so that everyone may lead a dignified life. Unlike the Basic Income Grant proposals, the Living Income Guaranteed is not unconditionally provided but is allocated through a means-test. The Living Income Guaranteed is a social security ‘net’ available to all; on an as-needed basis. This principle exemplifies our national expectations of government, as laid out within most country’s Bill of Rights, where the state ensures the well-being of its citizens when the citizens are unable to provide for themselves.


PARADIGM SHIFT
The implementation of a Living Income Guaranteed also requires the implementation of a paradigm shift. We need to acknowledge that our current system and approach of managing resources and ensuring human rights has been far from effective. As a society, acknowledging the ineffectiveness of our system prompts us to profoundly investigate our value system and preclude ideas that no longer serve us. When we hold on to the ways of the past because that’s ‘how things have always been done’, we recreate the same problems of the past; the very ones we wish to eradicate. The only way to move forward and bring about an actual improvement in society is to do things differently. To be able to do so, we require an openness for change – for innovation and creativity – for ‘out of the box thinking’. In Einstein’s words: “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”



STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENTS
To finance a Living Income Guaranteed System, changes are required within the current socio-economic and political structure. Funding the Living Income Guaranteed directly through the Government by allocating money from the budget, or through deficit spending, is not a viable option. Government, by itself, is not set up to handle such a load of income transfers at the level required for all Living Income recipients to be able to live a dignified life. Adjustments and tweaks are required to free up and ensure a proper Living Income can be actually, guaranteed.


NATIONALIZATION OF RESOURCES AND SOCIAL DIVIDENDS
One way to fund a Living Income Guaranteed is through the nationalization of resources within each country. To benefit the public well-being, each country’s resources are re-allocated by nationalizing companies that utilize the national resources in manufacturing and production processes. The citizenry would then effectively become shareholders of these companies. Economic profit generated by publicly owned companies would partially (or wholly, if necessary) finance the Living Income Guaranteed.Beyond the obvious funding function of such a step, the nationalization of resources and connected enterprises provides an opportunity for the management of the country’s resources by the people of that country – and is, in fact, an extension of direct democracy.



TAXATION
Within the Living Income Guaranteed, direct or personal tax methods will be discontinued. Only indirect tax methods will be facilitated, inter alia, in the form of VAT, sales tax and import duties. There will no longer be a need for excessive taxation, as the role and functions that the government will be required to execute and fund, will be minimal.The amount of tax for each individual will be directly related to one’s activity and participation within a particular system or section of society (eg. Toll roads / Road pricing). Note that from the financing options suggested here, the particular combination and spreading should be tailored for each country – dependent on the specific current economic reality and cultural climate. A country-specific evaluation can determine in which areas of a particular economy funds that are misappropriated that can be redirected towards the guaranteeing of a Living Income.


REDIRECTION OF MILITARY BUDGETS
A second major and appropriate source of funds to finance a Living Income is the redirection of military budgets. Whereas the real and propagated justifications for war are questionable, their resulting devastation is not. It requires no further explanation or argumentation to clarify why warfare is undesirable and worth eradicating. Every democratic government has a duty first and foremost to the citizens of their own country. Spending vast amounts of public funds to finance military action under the guise of humanitarianism has no sensical meaning when at home such things as unemployment, poverty, inadequate education programs or health systems are common and increasingly problematic. To better the world, we must start at home.

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Well, there you go: a few simple steps to dignity and freedom for all.

Have at it you, Rabid Rightwingers!

(Personally, I'm signing up asap - I've paid taxes all my life and never ever intended a single penny of my taxes to go towards supporting billionaires, banksters, warmongers and psychopathic politicians. Bout time their 'democracy' was turned into OUR democracy.)