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From Wikipedia Guaranteed minimum income (GMI) is a system[1] of social welfare provision that guarantees that all citizens or families have an income sufficient to live on, provided they meet certain conditions. Eligibility is typically determined by citizenship, a means test and either availability for the labour market or a willingness to perform community services. The primary goal of a guaranteed minimum income is to combat poverty. If citizenship is the only requirement, the system turns into a basic income guarantee. Contents [hide]
1 Elements 2 Basic income 3 Advocates 4 Funding 5 See also 6 References 7 External links
[edit] Elements
A system of guaranteed minimum income can consist of several elements, most notably:
a minimum wage, either set by law or resulting from negotiations of employers or their organizations with trade unions; a calculation of the social minimum, usually below the minimum wage; a safety net, to help citizens or families without sufficient financial means survive at the social minimum. This may be a transfer or, in some cases, a loan, and is generally conditional to availability for work, performance of community services, some kind of social contract, or commitment to a reintegration trajectory; child support by the state; student grants and student loans; state pension for the elderly.
[edit] Basic income Main article: Basic income
A basic income is granted independent of other income (including salaries) and wealth, with no other requirement than citizenship. This is a special case of GMI, based on additional ideologies and/or goals. While most modern countries have some form of guaranteed minimum income, a basic income is rare.
A basic income is a proposed system of social security, that periodically provides each citizen with a sum of money that is sufficient to live on. Except for citizenship, a basic income is entirely unconditional. There is no means test; the richest as well as the poorest citizens would receive it.
A basic income is often proposed in the form of a citizen's dividend (a transfer) or a negative income tax (a guarantee). A basic income less than the social minimum is referred to as a partial basic income. A worldwide basic income, typically including income redistribution between nations, is known as a global basic income. [edit] Advocates The idea of guaranteed minimum income is not new, as witnessed in this vintage cartoon.
American revolutionary Thomas Paine advocated a basic income guarantee to all US citizens as compensation for "loss of his or her natural inheritance, by the introduction of the system of landed property" (Agrarian Justice, 1795).
French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte echoed Paine's sentiments and commented that 'man is entitled by birthright to a share of the Earth's produce sufficient to fill the needs of his existence' (Herold, 1955).
In 1963, Robert Theobald published the book Free Men and Free Markets, in which he advocated a guaranteed minimum income (the origin of the modern version of the phrase).
In his final book Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967) Martin Luther King Jr. wrote[2]
I am now convinced that the simplest approach will prove to be the most effective — the solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income. —from the chapter entitled "Where We Are Going"
In 1968, James Tobin, Paul Samuelson, John Kenneth Galbraith and another 1,200 economists signed a document calling for the US Congress to introduce in that year a system of income guarantees and supplements.[3]
In 1973, Daniel Patrick Moynihan wrote The Politics of a Guaranteed Income in which he advocated for the Guaranteed Minimum Income and discussed Richard Nixon's GAI proposal. This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (February 2010)
In 1987, New Zealand's Labour Finance Minister Roger Douglas announced a Guaranteed Minimum Family Income Scheme to accompany a new flat tax. Both were quashed by then Prime Minister David Lange, who sacked Douglas.[4]
Modern advocates include Hans-Werner Sinn (Germany) and Ayşe Buğra (Turkey).[citation needed] [edit] Funding
Many different sources of funding have been suggested for a guaranteed minimum income:
Income taxes Sales taxes Capital gains taxes Inheritance taxes Wealth taxes, e.g. property tax Luxury taxes Elimination of current income support programs and tax deductions Repayment of the grant at death or retirement Land and natural resource taxes Pollution taxes Fees from government created monopolies (such as the broadcast spectrum and utilities) Collective ownership Universal stock ownership A National Mutual Fund Money creation or seignorage Tariffs, the lottery, or sin taxes Technology Taxes Tobin Tax
Life is a banquet -- and most poor suckers are starving to death -- Auntie Mame You are born naked and everything else is drag - RuPaul
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Living on a fixed minimum income is tough. I don't buy weed anymore and damned little in the way of alcohol. I don't eat out. I don't waste gasoline on frivolous trips into town. I do a little catering and woodworking on the side, sell a few eggs and vegetables and barter some for other items. I wouldn't wish this on a young person who had hopes and dreams for the future. There certainly are a lot of scams and a lot of problems with the system. But the judges weed out the worst of them.
Good coffee, good weed, and time on my hands...
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Member CHB-OG
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Member CHB-OG
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San Francisco has a living wage requirement for businesses in the City. The pay rate went to $10.24 on JAN 01 2012
Contrarian, extraordinaire
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 19,831 Likes: 180 |
If I were to work full time for the stipend I recieve the rate would be $6.40 per hour. And that is with the recent 3.6% increase. Not bad really, all things considered.
Good coffee, good weed, and time on my hands...
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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There was a three year period with my business where I had six employees who cost an average of $22/hr (wages and employee burden) and I made a "profit" (as defined by schedule C, which is whatever money is left over after deducting expenses, and my "wage" was not an expense) of $3/hr. You could also say I made a wage of $3/hr. Making $6.40 woulda been great! The crazy thing is that my employees thought I was really knocking it down, and they all wanted raises and benefits. I explained it to them, especially that they had to produce more than they cost in order for the business to continue to function after my savings ran out, but they didn't understand. So I generously offered to base their income on a percentage of every job, so they could simply share in the wealth. They all quit and my "profit", based solely upon my own work, jumped to $30/hr. Still, it took a year and a half to pay off all of the obligations that being an employer had accumulated. I have shifted to a collaborative system when doing work that requires more than one person by giving away parts of the job to others who have better capacity to perform those parts, and they do the same for me. We reduce competition and support specialization, which results in better end products, better prices, and higher incomes. I thought that was what competition in a capitalist system was supposed to do? 
You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete. R. Buckminster Fuller
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old hand
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old hand
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Sounds like a work coop or even an old fashioned guild in the making. I say guild because you would not offer to share with someone who was not capable of doing the work.
Take the nacilbupeR pledge: I solemnly swear that I will help back out all Republicans at the next election.
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veteran
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veteran
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' Logtroll, I think your posting well exemplifies what happens due to the selfishness and lack of reality that American society encourages. If your employees had been realistic, and raised to have some skill in co-operation, your original business might have continued.
Glad to know that you have found A Better Way.
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Administrator Bionic Scribe
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OP
Administrator Bionic Scribe
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Posts: 21,134 |
Meanwhile, returning to the topic, is it true that if everyone were guaranteed a minimum income (as contrasted with wage, which is a different topic), would that lead to more people declining to work? If so, would that be a bad thing or would it mean that those who do work would have better jobs?
Would a guaranteed minimum income cost less than our current system?
Life is a banquet -- and most poor suckers are starving to death -- Auntie Mame You are born naked and everything else is drag - RuPaul
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Joined: Aug 2008
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veteran
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veteran
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ahem !
"Extreme right-wing reactionary propaganda tells us that if there is this minimal level of support provided, everyone would sit on their duff drinking and smoking prohibited substances (I wonder how they would buy it?). In fact, most people are absurdly convinced that work is useful and not nearly as evil as it actually is. And even if they have some doubts on the matter, the brainwashing industry is very efficient at convincing people that it is good to work -- and at convincing people that they need all the destructive and harmful junk that an industrial society churns out. Sadly, most people actually want to work!! Throw in propaganda that you get prestige from your work and your possession of meretricious toys, and most people are clawing to climb the greasy pole. It is a mere detail to adjust the brainwashing to the right level of the work ethic. Anything from South Sea idyllic laziness to total mobilization to fight World War III is attainable -- as history has shown." ---modesty forbids!
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Joined: Nov 2006
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 19,831 Likes: 180 |
"Extreme right-wing reactionary propaganda tells us that if there is this minimal level of support provided, everyone would sit on their duff drinking and smoking prohibited substances This belief comes from the right wing because it represents what would happen if they were given a small stipend which would barely support them. Contrary to what many would have you believe a very large portion of those who survive due to government largess are Conservatives! Buying the controlled substances is easy. Several of them pool their resources, purchase a quarter or half pound, then sell most of it to pay for what they use. Cash for food stamps is another way. Many of them receive more food stamps than they need and so trade them for cash to buy beer, weed, and cigarettes. All the while cursing Obama for wrecking the economy.
Good coffee, good weed, and time on my hands...
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