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279

The Political Challenge--How To Get There From Here

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Standing, G. (2017). The Political Challenge--How To Get There From Here. In Standing, G. Basic Income: And How We Can Make It Happen. Pelican, pp. 279-298

284

[...] In the UK, the existing system was well described by the Scottish National MP Ronnie Cowan in a House of Commons debate on basic income in September 2016:

If we were all given a blank sheet of paper and asked to design a welfare system, nobody--but nobody--would come up with the system we have now. They would need thousands of sheets of paper and would end up with a mishmash of abandoned projects, badly implemented and half-hearted ideas so complicated that it lets down those who need it most.

basically a system that needs to be refactored

DRIFT

—p.284 by Guy Standing 6 years, 7 months ago

[...] In the UK, the existing system was well described by the Scottish National MP Ronnie Cowan in a House of Commons debate on basic income in September 2016:

If we were all given a blank sheet of paper and asked to design a welfare system, nobody--but nobody--would come up with the system we have now. They would need thousands of sheets of paper and would end up with a mishmash of abandoned projects, badly implemented and half-hearted ideas so complicated that it lets down those who need it most.

basically a system that needs to be refactored

DRIFT

—p.284 by Guy Standing 6 years, 7 months ago
286

[...] the funding should be shown as coming from 'capital' or forms of rent, so the media could not present it as taxing Bill to pay Jack.

—p.286 by Guy Standing 6 years, 7 months ago

[...] the funding should be shown as coming from 'capital' or forms of rent, so the media could not present it as taxing Bill to pay Jack.

—p.286 by Guy Standing 6 years, 7 months ago
292

[...] Empathy derives from a strong faith in the human condition. It is the ability to put oneself in another's shoes and to accept that people have the right to live as they wish, as long as they do no intentional or careless harm to others. Defending these values in the face of lurches to authoritarianism and paternalism may be very difficult in current circumstances. And we must recognize that this means a fundamental reform of 'rentier capitalism' arising from the policies and underlying ideology that have held sway since the 1980s.

even more low-level than empathy: it's about seeing others as selves

—p.292 by Guy Standing 6 years, 7 months ago

[...] Empathy derives from a strong faith in the human condition. It is the ability to put oneself in another's shoes and to accept that people have the right to live as they wish, as long as they do no intentional or careless harm to others. Defending these values in the face of lurches to authoritarianism and paternalism may be very difficult in current circumstances. And we must recognize that this means a fundamental reform of 'rentier capitalism' arising from the policies and underlying ideology that have held sway since the 1980s.

even more low-level than empathy: it's about seeing others as selves

—p.292 by Guy Standing 6 years, 7 months ago
294

Means-tested housing-related benefits might have to be continued in the UK and other countries with distorted housing markets, which should be tackled separately [...]

in a section about phasing out means-tested benefits over time to be replaced by BI

I understand his intentions here (it's in a sub-section called "Baby steps") but man, it's hard to read that and not immediately think that the lion's share of housing benefit really accrues to the rentier class, and thus we need to eradicate that by making all housing provided by the state at some level

—p.294 by Guy Standing 6 years, 7 months ago

Means-tested housing-related benefits might have to be continued in the UK and other countries with distorted housing markets, which should be tackled separately [...]

in a section about phasing out means-tested benefits over time to be replaced by BI

I understand his intentions here (it's in a sub-section called "Baby steps") but man, it's hard to read that and not immediately think that the lion's share of housing benefit really accrues to the rentier class, and thus we need to eradicate that by making all housing provided by the state at some level

—p.294 by Guy Standing 6 years, 7 months ago
297

Politicians must find a way--or several ways for different groups--of framing basic income so as to outflank critics from the media and the establishment, most of whom have had more than the equivalent of a basic income from birth. Opponents will continue to use the sophistry of reciprocity--surely, you cannot want to give something for nothing--which they do not demand of inherited wealth.

sick burn

—p.297 by Guy Standing 6 years, 7 months ago

Politicians must find a way--or several ways for different groups--of framing basic income so as to outflank critics from the media and the establishment, most of whom have had more than the equivalent of a basic income from birth. Opponents will continue to use the sophistry of reciprocity--surely, you cannot want to give something for nothing--which they do not demand of inherited wealth.

sick burn

—p.297 by Guy Standing 6 years, 7 months ago