10 REASONS WHY BASIC INCOME IS NECESSARY TODAY

by Lieselotte Wohlgenannt, Vienna

[These reasons published 10/21/2002 are translated from the German on the World Wide Web, ksge.at/grundeinkommen/mitte-ge-materialien.htm.]


1. To cushion the uncertainties and insecurities of flexible paid labor through a guaranteed minimum income and thus reduce the danger of poverty;

2. To set the one-sided life insurance through paid labor and social benefits tied to paid labor on a broader foundation;

3. To distribute work more justly: Distribution of income so that all necessary work can be performed that is economically and socially meaningful in a way corresponding to human dignity;

4. To promote equal opportunities for women and men;

5. So unpaid work does not become a poverty case;

6. To strengthen personal responsibility: To be able to assume responsibility and decide how I organize my life, when I assume what tasks to facilitate relational-, community- and political work according to my decision;

7. For a more just distribution of income: The productivity of our society depends essentially
- on the goods of the earth that belong to all persons,
- on unpaid work mainly performed by women,
- on the collected knowledge of earlier generations and on current developments of science and technology.

These services cannot be expected from paid labor alone. It is time for everyone to participate to a certain extent.

8. To really make possible the human right to life;

9. To advance sustainable economies and careful relations with natural resources;

10. To change social attitudes and goals, quality instead of quantity, good life as a goal.
(More articles in English are available at www.basicincome.com
www.progress.org
www.twnside.org.sg/title/twe.289f.htm
www.freeliberal.com.)