Room to Breathe: On why we should be talking more about a guaranteed minimum income
Responsible, fully aware adults should, by necessity I believe, live fully interdisciplinary lives. Heck, at this point in our nation family’s history, all teenagers should as well. Civics, which we truly no longer teach within our family, so-called, should include parts of my beloved Psychology, History and Computer Science at a minimum. A citizenry cannot be expected to responsibly vote and engage in the administration of their country without a proper understanding of the human condition, and the ability to effectively perspective take. We cannot expect a citizenry to impactfully change course without an understanding of where past voting trends, practices and policies have led us. They cannot be expected to consider the evolving workforce, and their place in it, without being required to establish a relationship with technology, and how it is changing the labor landscape.
And yet, we expect…
We are a complicated, prickly mess, we American family. Quite perfectly so. That comes through in surround when we step away from our decency filters and discuss voting, and leadership, and the direction of our nation, so-called. We suggest civics, but our practices there remain so ill defined and arbitrary that the concept loses meaning in the American context. It is a concept built to evolve. It should be deployed for citizens to consider what is best for a nation family, and to elect leadership which builds government systems which then best serve our nation family. Let us agree that our approach is broken. Broken fully in half actually, along a two party line, with slight cracks for occasional breathing room. But, broken nonetheless.
The historian in my personal civics toolkit often visits conversations and ideas offered and lived with by those who tread these miles as members of our nation family well before me. It keeps me grounded, and allows the Clinical Psychologist in the toolkit to perform a kind of review of evidence which allows me to better understand our present family psychology.
In my view, one of the more important ideas to interrogate is what all were believed to be critically important civil rights. While MLK Jr. is often referenced around discussions of equality, I believe that an often neglected part of his history was the remarkably revolutionary concept of a guaranteed minimum income within the United States. Not long before his death in 1967, the notion became a significant part of his platform. He had conceived of it as an essential and necessary civil right. Full stop.
Before we proceed, we should say a bit about what was meant by guaranteed minimum income, and its rowdy child universal basic income.
His ideas were relatively simple and person centered ones, empowered by the reality that the income would be available to all adults, regardless of prior socioeconomic status. He believed that automation was shifting the work landscape, and that poor and rural America would be most impacted by this coming shift. MLK suggested that it would allow those who do “meaningful work” to continue to do so free of the strain of poverty. Meaningful are all of those critical task that we have devalued through our narrative about merit and agency including parenting young and healthy citizens, and creating new arts and broadening ideas. For whatever reason (we know the reasons), we treat our single parents with a certain degree of emotional disdain and refuse to dignify stay at home parenting as the labor that it actually is, and we refuse to see the necessity to value the arts and literature which feed the intellectual development of an emotionally sound nation family…and…our results. Essentially, he saw nearly all work involving humans as being valuable, and requiring support, so that work could be done, thus promoting the welfare of the nation family. He insisted that it could be subsidized rather easily by our government, if we actively chose to divert spending on war efforts, and the like, to our citizens.
It has always been conceived of as “stackable.” It is not welfare. It has never been offered to eliminate social security, and does not relate to minimum wage. Earn what you earn, and count on an additional subsidy, month to month. Whether you are employed, lose your job, are a member of the growing gig workforce, or so on.
Interesting then, that the conversation had stagnated so long, even among politicians who regularly referenced MLK and his legacy, as inspiration and guiding principle.
Perhaps it has been the fear of asking all Americans to consider the well being of all Americans, as we are a nation of pocket watchers. Perhaps there has been some concern about losing, and thus consolidating on brand messaging around the things that matter most, and a basic income is not one of those critical items. Perhaps they simply never familiarized themselves with MLK’s full platform. Perhaps, any and all.
Interesting then that Andrew Yang, arguably the most interesting of all of the Presidential candidates for so many reasons, then emerges and sets the item of universal basic income, near the top of his agenda. It sounded familiar to my mind and ear, and is. His approach is an evolved one. It still focuses on the necessity to address the labor landscape with regard to the ways in which automation has reduced the size of our labor force, but he has developed the concept around means for funding it (essentially a broad value added tax) and maintains a focus on innovation and meaningful work.
For the poor and middle class, this should be a rallying point. For single mothers, poor families, those living in rural areas, students, young professionals, artists, day laborers, contractors…this would be a boon.
The Psychologist in my toolkit understands the true impact of poverty. It presses and motivates desperate behavior, impacts emotional wellness reduces overall productivity. Those with the talent and skill to grow our various economic and human ecosystems are made to scramble for work, and thus have neither the time or energy to contribute their gifts. Single parents are required to spend greater time away from their children, and are exhausted and harried when they rejoin them. Young and rural families are priced out of pursuing valuable technical skills for their providers and children, relying on minimum wage employment to piece together a living.
What MLK was suggesting then, and what Yang is suggesting now, is that we would see obvious and lasting benefit from the institution of a basic monthly income. Both were on to something.
Imagine what you would do with an additional subsidy every month. Imagine the number of citizens you know personally who would fund those technical certifications they have been discussing, and how they would then organize an LLC to serve as technical consultants for all of the small, family businesses emerging in your area. Imagine the community gardens and farms which would be developed in all of the impoverished food deserts nearest you. Imagine the relief provided to single mothers who could then focus essential energy and time on the development of the children they are growing in to the future stewards of our nation family. Consider that the poor and middle class would be able to address necessary human services including those related to physical and mental wellness, and how the arts, literature, music and dance would explode in spaces where they have not previously been available, and made accessible for the enrichment of all. We would see, as we have so often in the past, citizens developing technologies and ideas which promote the overall well being of our nation, as they would have the time, space and shared resources to craft economic systems within systems.
Communities which have been systemically abandoned ostracized from the technical and classroom spaces, from the farm and agriculture spaces, from the professional and political spaces, would be able to better access these, or create their own rival spaces, as a means of breaking these emotional and actual monopolies. Communities of color, Women, the formerly incarcerated and all vulnerable communities would be better able to consolidate, personally and locally invest, and project their ideas, diverse voices and brilliance into this new ether.
We would be looking at true technological advances. Moving our farm to table systems forward, improving means for delivering information and education to our public, promoting psychological health and wellness among a broad subset of those formerly traumatized and victimized by an oppressive system of poverty, and a means for those formerly shut out to truly develop a system of personal freedom. It is an interesting idea, no?
We would be rewarding opportunity and merit on the front end, trusting it to present itself when nourished. We would be suggesting that poverty is temporary, and allowing for citizens to know that they combat and directly address all of the unfortunate and real ills that com with what he have sentenced our poor to. We would be promoting a dignified existence for our citizenry as they grow and our nation family changes. Dignity should be a civil right, but perhaps a discussion for another day and time.
Ultimately, I am encouraged to see a candidate, and segments of all of our communities having the discussion about this again. This concept of universal basic income, should always be on the table, and we should examine how near we are to realizing it. It is focused on people, and their growth, and that should remain a focus of any leader any of us elect.
I suspect that we haven’t discussed it much as our focus in these times of campaigning and existing have come down to the singular goal of ousting the one on the throne, toppling his regime and putting in a proper replacement. We have made that error prior, and appear ready and anxious to do so again.
I would suggest to you that we need to have our next conversations about the approaches which will be beneficial. The ideas and efforts which will improve the human condition. Universal Basic Income is one such idea. That is more critically important than who wins or loses, as most of the grand policies offered during fight season wont be employed once these many take office. You should know this already. Your focus should be on their core values, and how they will functionally deploy these. I want to hear more about universal basic income from all of the candidates, know why I’m not hearing it already, and appreciate that one has resurrected, attended to, and grown the idea. I hope that he keeps drawing blood in this fight, and remains engaged with this platform.
The idea excites me so, and I already know what I would do given a monthly income boost of about one thousand dollars. It’s a very dope idea, too. I would identify a space in Columbia, SC for lease, a small storefront/gathering space somewhere central. It would be a dedicated Afrofuturism space. I would publish works books from this space. I would host monthly book club meetings of all kinds from this space. I would have a dedicated homework and study section in the rear for grade school children, in this space. I would lead monthly lectures on wellness, in this space. I would host a monthly film series dedicated to local and near filmmakers, in this space. Preach Jacobs would host his Loft Sessions, in this space. The Black Nerd Wellness podcast would record in front of a live audience, in this space. The ceiling would be painted like the Dogon star charts, and we would host monthly debates. It would be glorious. It would belong to us, and we would know that we could fund it, and dress well while doing it, and eat and drink our own locally sourced, and support our own voices, and I would be just there somewhere, rocking a three piece and a pair of kicks crafted for me by a Columbia resident with amazing skill, and it would be glorious.
What would you and your mama do, given that bit of breathing room, every month?
