01 GiftingEconomy.org presents
Basic income, as Steven Shafarman tells it.
A short presentation with sources. Every quotation is in his words or his publisher’s, and is linked.
This is basic income, as Steven Shafarman tells it, and where it meets the gift economy.
02 Who he is
An author who also teaches people to move and breathe.
Steven Shafarman has been talking and writing about basic income since the mid-1980s. He is a life member of the Basic Income Earth Network and lives in Washington, D.C.
He studied with Moshé Feldenkrais from 1976 to 1984. In his words, his primary profession is teaching people “to breathe freely and move easily.”
Sources: Amplify Publishing Group · Basic Income Earth Network · Feldenkrais Research Journal
Steven Shafarman has written about basic income since the mid nineteen-eighties. His other work is teaching people to breathe freely and move easily.
03 Where it starts
Children learn to walk. Societies can outgrow things too.
“Young children, as they learn to walk, outgrow crawling and leave it behind. Their basic needs are provided by parents or other adults. Thus, when everyone’s basic economic security is guaranteed, I believe our society can “outgrow” pollution, racism, war, and other problems.”
Sources: Basic Income Earth Network
His idea began with how young children learn to walk. Secure everyone's basic needs, he writes, and a society can outgrow its problems.
04 The problem
Divided, and stuck.
“There’s a consensus today that people are divided, polarized, nearly tribal, and our government is broken, paralyzed by partisan conflicts. That has to change.”
Sources: Mascot Books (publisher page)
The problem, as his book Our Future puts it: people are divided, and government is paralyzed by partisan conflict.
05 The plan
One amount. Every month. Every adult citizen.
“Set an amount, say $500 or $750 or $1,000, and have government provide that each month to every adult citizen.”
Sources: TED
The plan: pick an amount, say five hundred, seven hundred fifty, or a thousand dollars, and provide it every month to every adult citizen.
06 The same for everyone
No means test. No proof of need.
“The same amount for everyone: homeless veterans, recent graduates, working parents, retired grandparents, and the rest of us. A basic income, guaranteed, universal and unconditional, added to and independently of what we earn.”
Sources: TED
The same amount for everyone. Guaranteed, universal, and unconditional, on top of whatever you earn.
07 More than money
A monthly reminder that we are equal.
“Our Future shows us that basic income is more than money. With any amount, version, or variation, everyone will have monthly reminders that we – each of us, all of us – are equal citizens, with a direct personal stake in working together to make our government trustworthy, effective, and accountable.”
Sources: Mascot Books (publisher page) · Amplify Publishing Group
He says basic income is more than money. Every month, it would remind us that we are equal citizens, with a stake in working together.
08 A different dividing line
We the People, not left versus right.
“Our Future presents a powerful alternative: We the People versus special interests and the status quo.”
Sources: Mascot Books (publisher page) · Amplify Publishing Group
Instead of left versus right, he frames politics as We the People versus special interests and the status quo.
09 History, and the record
An old idea with a paper trail.
His book credits Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. with related ideas.
On April 16, 1970 the U.S. House passed President Nixon’s Family Assistance Plan, 243 to 155. It was a means-tested plan, not a basic income, and it did not become law.
Alaska has paid an equal Permanent Fund Dividend to eligible residents since June 1982.
Sources: Mascot Books (publisher page) · The American Presidency Project, UC Santa Barbara · Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin · State of Alaska
He traces related ideas to Jefferson, Paine, Lincoln and King. In 1970 the House passed a guaranteed income plan that the Senate did not. And Alaska has paid an equal dividend to residents since 1982.
10 Where it meets the gift economy
Given without a test, a debt or a performance.
The same amount for everyone: nobody has to prove they deserve it.
Nothing is owed back in his TEDx description: it is “added to and independently of what we earn.”
He argues it gives people time: for family, neighbors and community.
Our reading of his idea, not his words.
Sources: TED · Basic Income Earth Network
Where it meets the gift economy: something given with no means test, no proof of need, and no performance required to receive it.
11 Honest differences
A floor is not the whole house.
Basic income is public policy, paid for through government. A gift is a free personal choice.
His plan covers adult citizens. Gift communities usually do not check citizenship.
A payment is not a relationship. Gifts often are.
An earlier version of his plan, Citizen Policies, paired the income with everyone volunteering eight hours a month.
Sources: TED · Institute for Public Accuracy
There are honest differences. Basic income is public policy, not a personal gift. It covers adult citizens. And money is not a relationship.
12 Your next step
Read him. Then tap in.
Read Our Future in his own words. If you have something to give, or something you need, iGift is one place to share it. Nothing is required back.
Sources: Mascot Books (publisher page) · iGift
To go deeper, read his book, Our Future. And if you have something to give, or something you need, tap in at iGift.