Do you think a universal basic income policy is a good
way to counteract the problems of rising income inequality and technological
unemployment? What do you think about
the possible ways to fund it? Would
something like this ever be adopted in Slovakia?
Last week we had an article dealing with a very similar concept. It is interesting to see it progress because at first glance it’s counterintuitive because usually a person would think people have to be first educated, helped by people who are knowledgeable and then they will be able to maintain their lives. Give them education, a healthy environment and maybe people will start working. But what the universal basic income does is transfers the responsibility of taking care of oneself from the government to the people, which is a bit risky.
ReplyDeleteIf, however we take a look at reality we will see that it actually has a positive effect on everything. According to the article the people in every village were improving “ in nutrition, improvements in health and healthcare, improvements in school attendance and school performance by the children, with girls staying longer in school, and improvements in economic activity,” This is great news for us in Slovakia because we may use the universal basic income to improve lives of many people. This could even potentially solve problems with gypsies because they will be able to run their lives however they want to. This will give them a sense of freedom and since we already have some data from Indonesia we know that it is able to work in Slovakia as well.
I don’t think it’s appropriate to state, @Tomáš, that the universal basic income will give gypsies a sense of freedom – I think they are free enough. We live in a democratic country with many opportunities and a wide range of choices, even “free lunches” and “free trains” are provided by the government, so what kind of freedom would they achieve? Becoming financially free requires perseverance and commitment which they do not possess since they are living today, for this moment, not for the future. Another source of money they didn’t earn wouldn’t be a relevant solution for their integration. An investment in schoolbooks in Romani language or creation of workplaces for them would be a much more helpful utilization of that money. I don’t want to support stereotypes, but most of them are based on facts and I can say from my own experience: in Myjava, there are two groups of Roma people– those who have regular jobs and try to adapt as much as they can and the ones who celebrate three days in a row after receiving social allowances and then complain about their tough life for the rest of the month.
DeleteI fully agree with the article. In southeast Asia, where even young children are expected to work, in my opinion, the expansion of the programme would make sense. However, I do not think this should and ever will be implemented in Slovakia. Rather because of societal reasons than economic.
ReplyDeleteFact is that a big portion of poor people in Slovakia are Roma. The main difference between the poor in Asia and Roma is that for example, Roma children do not skip school because of the necessity to survive, rather because they do not value education as much. That is partly because during and even after achieving vocational education, due to competition with Slovaks, speaking the language better, or discrimination, they are being denied opportunities. However, I do know many Roma waiters and a very skilled barber. These people assimilated and integrated into the Slovak society, which, also in their words, many of the Roma people fail and do not want to do. However, that does not mean that they are lazy. In fact, many of them turn to arts as can be observed in numerous gypsy musicians and the pioneers of Slovak hip-hop are Roma. The best hip-hop crew in Slovakia is BKP, Bachtale Kale Phrala, which means "Lucky Dark Brothers". Some parallels could be drawn with African-Americans. Both Roma and African-Americans are underrepresented in STEM fields but in terms of contemporary art, they dominate the scene. That being said, I think the programme would not have such a positive effect. Rather, education should be incentivized by not discriminating against the Roma and giving them more opportunities to assimilate. In my opinion, Slovak society is not yet ready for such a programme.
I totally agree with you Marek.
DeleteSadly, the gypsy community in Slovakia has gotten used to getting money from the government for free, which is in a rather extent number of cases wasted in alcohol, cigarettes, and gambling. Most people have probably come into contact with gypsies begging for money in front of Tesco or Kaufland, calling for a need for food. Have you ever tried giving them food? I have a friend that refuses to give these people money, and often adult beggars refused the food, while children who are set onto posts by their parents are so grateful. A theory proposed by a social worker states that if gypsies living in poverty were put into a sort of community, where they are to work their land, grow their own food, basically recreating normal society and pushing them to fulfill their responsibilities, employers would be able to hire them knowing that they are able to do their job.
The social inequality that influenced my life the most is income inequality because I come from a family of modest financial means. Income inequality causes one other issue, opportunity inequality. Parents usually cannot afford children’s extracurricular and other development activities which impact their skills, knowledge, experience and perspective. Also, parents and children from lower income classes are usually unaware of broader educational opportunities and their accessibility and parents lack the time and resources to be extensively involved in children’s schools. In my opinion, it is important to reduce the opportunity inequality in order to establish a more equal society.
ReplyDeleteEstablishment of universal basic income is one of the more effective ways for reduction of income inequality. “We know that universal schemes, in other words, not targeted through means testing, actually help reduce inequalities much more effectively and are much more efficient,” said Standing.
Several ways of providing funding are mentioned in the article. In my opinion, the alteration in use of capital would be the most effective. “In the case of India, you could say that something like 9% of total government expenditure consists of subsidies, most of which do not reach the poor, they do not improve economic performance and they increase inequalities,” Standing said. “If you converted half of those subsidies into paying basic income, you could pay very good basic incomes to everybody.” Alteration in the use of only 9 percent of capital towards the funding of basic universal income proved to increase the level of living drastically, as Tomáš mentioned in his comment. Therefore, alteration in the use of capital is arguably one of the most effective ways of funding.
In conclusion, income inequality is one of the greater issues that society is facing and causes another issue, known as opportunity inequality. Significantly, the establishment of universal basic income helps to reduce this inequality. There are several ways to fund the provision of universal basic income but I find the alteration in the use of capital the most effective one. Not only is it very effective but it also helps to reduce income inequality.
I probably should have foreseen that in asking whether such a program could be tried in Slovakia, I would get some responses referencing the Roma community. Those commenting on this blog should understand that while it is common to hear such statements in Slovakia, they can be rather shocking to those who have been trained to be more sensitive about such things, such as to those in the educated English-speaking world, and even some portions of the educated Slovak one. It is very important not to generalize, especially about a minority group which has faced discrimination. For instance, it would be seen as presumptuous and condescending to claim to know what such a group wants or feels, such as what they have gotten used to, whether they plan for the future, how much commitment they have, or what they feel about education. Even with survey data, these things are very hard to determine, and you should avoid speaking for others in this way, or drawing facile conclusions from outward behavior, which often stems from very complex motivations.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, it is important to note that this is an article about poverty and that while the poor and the Roma significantly overlap in Slovakia, shifting the conversation away from the former to the latter could be seen as a desire to complain about a minority group, rather than admitting that Slovaks in conditions of poverty may also have some of the same problems, or that poverty could be the cause of these problems rather than ethnicity. For example, lack of success in life, or a lack of economic opportunities in their region, might push some people, whether they are white or Roma, to take solace in alcohol or cigarettes, rather than budgeting their money more carefully. In my experience, some beggars (both white and Roma) tend to refuse gifts of food in hopes that they will get money instead. Given what Roma experienced just a few generations ago during WWII (relocation of settlements, forced labor camps and eventually some mass killings) and the fact that they have often been discriminated against when attempting to find jobs, it is perhaps not surprising if many feel resentful or demotivated.
Slovaks too were once a discriminated minority, and it may help to remember that they also had a reputation of irresponsible drunkards for some of the Austrian/Hungarian elite. Trying to assimilate and move up the socio-economic ladder in the 19th century would have undoubtedly meant hearing such comments often and feeling that one was being judged (or even denied opportunities) because of a few bad apples. I can understand that it is difficult to be a good IB learner (a principled open-minded communicator) towards a minority group that cannot seem to break out of the cycle of poverty or sometimes does not seem to want to do so. You may feel that the percentage of bad apples in this case is higher. However, it is important to avoid making generalizations about them, since these comments help to support the discrimination which may be hindering them from getting out of poverty and assimilating.