[ad_1]
A California city is expected to become the first in the country to embark on a universal basic income experiment, paying 100 residents per month $ 500 without any conditions.
The goal of the program is to ensure that no one in Stockton, with a population of 300,000, lives in poverty. Recipients of the money will be able to spend money on anything they want without any conditions.
It will be launched by 2019 and the 100 lucky residents will receive the money for 18 full months as part of its test phase before
The city, formerly known as the capital of foreclosure in the United States, has recently experienced difficult times, with 1 in 4 living below the poverty line and the median household income close to
The city has also accumulated millions of debts due to expensive development that led to the bankruptcy of the city in 2012.
"We spent too much on arenas and marinas, among others. Said Michael Tubbs, Mayor of Stockton
. Fortunately, the experimental program will not exhaust the coffers of the city, because it enjoys the financial support of the rich nabobs of Silicon Valley. One of these supporters is Facebook's co-founder, Chris Hughes, whose Economic Security Project has contributed $ 1 million to the project
"It's such a fundamental idea that if you work hard, you can go ahead, do not live in poverty. "This is not true today, and this has not been true in the country since Decades, "Hughes told CNN
" I believe that unless we make significant changes today, income inequality in our country will continue to grow. and challenge the very nature of our social contract. "
Other elites of Silicon Valley also approved the idea, although mostly in rhetoric." The universal income will be needed over time if the AI takes the most human jobs, "writes business magnate Elon Musk in a tweet last month.
" We should explore ideas like the universal basic income of new ideas, "said Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook in May 2017 Speech Harvard openness
The idea of universal basic income is not new, some European countries by adopting some form.In Finland, 2 000 unemployed people of working age have received 560 However, the program ended abruptly in April after the Finnish government decided not to grant funding to the program, reports The Guardian.
In the United States, the idea remains relatively new but growing in popularity in politically liberal areas. in the nation like Hawaii and the San Francisco Bay Area.
In Oakland, California, Y Combinator, a startup incubator, distributes $ 1,500 a month to randomly selected residents. It is expected that the money will soon be distributed to 100 recipients with the prospect of extending the program to 1,000 people who will receive $ 1,000 a month.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link
