The Family Basic Income Proposal by Thomas Lunde March 9, 1998 Money, we all need it, but too few of us are getting it. Traditionally, we got money through work or investment. One of the millennium crises, is the collapse of work as a means of getting money for many people. Nowhere is this more apparent than for families and young people trying to enter a workforce that only exists for a favoured few. The problem up till now, has been to prevent a few people from owning all the money. Governments attempted to solve that situation through a concept known as the "progressive income tax". This idea stated that those who earned the most should pay the highest taxes and that the government would collect this money and redistribute it throughout the economy to create more fairness. There was a second method of redistribution and that was through social programs that used the concept of Universality. We see this in Medicare and public education. So, in Canada, no matter whether you are poor or well off, you can receive an education and health care. These systems are now under attack due to lack of money. Where is all the money? There has never been as much money as there is now. In fact, the problem is that money is no longer being redistributed effectively and some segments of the money environment have been successful in reducing their contribution. And that brings us to the accelerating problem of an adequate philosophy. As the idea of the "progressive income tax" and Universality became eroded as a philosophy, a new model of income redistribution needs to be developed. With this goal in mind, I believe that many possibilities should be explored. I will open this dialog with an income redistribution plan that incorporates the old and shifts the philosophy from the individual to the family. For those of you who remember your history lessons, the revolution of the Enlightenment was the shift of individuals from being property of a lord or king to individuals with "rights". Citizens, became the basic building block of democracy and the complimentary economic system of capitalism allowed each individual the opportunity to seek happiness for themselves. This has led to a Darwinian economic system in which individuals strive for themselves, and view the "common good" as an evil which infringes on their "rights" to the pursuit of happiness. In contrast, I would ask you to imagine an economic system where each individual receives from the government a weekly cheque that over a years time amounts to $15,000. Standardized at this amount with a COLA clause to prevent erosion over time. This cheque is given to new born babies, senile elderly, mentally handicapped, prisoners, in fact every member of society. This is the Basic Income portion of my proposal. To receive these payments, it is only necessary to have one qualification and that is to define your family status. You can be a family of one, a nuclear family or an extended generational family, a gay family, a lesbian family, perhaps even a religious or group family. By telling the government your chosen family status, you indicate the accounting procedures of The Family Basic Income Proposal that apply to your family. Perhaps the best way for me to present this idea is to give you a number of scenario’s based on typical families and then I will present my explanation of of how this Proposal can be financed.
