Monthly Archives: December 2016

Technological Inheritance and the Case for a Basic Income

Economic Security ProjectIn this article originally published by the Economic Security Project on December 16, 2016, Gar Alperovitz makes a case for a universal basic income, beginning with the understanding that most income is, in fact, a gift from the past, or a “technological inheritance.”

One or another form of unconditional “basic income” has now been advocated by individuals ranging from conservative economists like the late Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Modern feminists concerned with “care work” have emphasized versions of it, as have Black activists facing an economy that simply does not provide jobs for millions of people.

Leaving aside numerous questions about how best to structure a basic income, the idea of providing people with income as a matter of right — whether or not they do what society considers “work” — runs into age-old concerns about individual responsibility as well as endless arguments about political and economic equity. Until these are confronted, the prospect of significant change in the direction of any form of basic income is clearly highly uncertain.

Click here to read the full article.

Posted in Articles | Comments closed

The Demanding Challenge of Community in an Era of Systemic Transformation

On December 1st, 2016, Gar Alperovitz delivered the plenary lecture at the Pendle Hill Moral Economy Conference in Wallingford, PA, discussing the challenges of building a new community-sustaining political economy:

From Black Lives Matter and climate change activists to Senator Bernie Sanders political organizers, a new movement is building the basis of a historic transformation. How, specifically, can the creation of a meaningful democratic and moral community became central to the transformation of the largest corporate capitalist system in the history of the world? How, specifically, can we build from community to confront some of the larger order challenges true systemic change will require?

Gar's Lecture at Pendle HIll

Click here to watch Gar’s lecture.

Posted in Audio and Video, Uncategorized | Comments closed