A basic income for everyone? Yes, Finland shows it really can work
In a speck of a village deep in the Finnish countryside, a man gets money for free. Each month, almost €560 (£500) is dropped into his bank account, with no strings attached. The cash is his to use as he wants. Who is his benefactor? The Helsinki government. The prelude to a thriller, perhaps, or some reality TV. But Juha Järvinen’s story is ultimately more exciting. He is a human lab rat in an experiment that could help to shape the future of the west.
Last Christmas, Järvinen was selected by the state as one of 2,000 unemployed people for a trial of universal basic income. You may have heard of UBI, or the policy of literally giving people money for nothing. It’s an idea that lights up the brains of both radical leftists – John McDonnell and Bernie Sanders – and Silicon Valley plutocrats such as Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. And in the long slump that has followed the banking crash, it is one of the few alternatives put forward that doesn’t taste like a reheat.
Yet hardly anyone knows what it might actually look like. For all the fuss, Finland is the first European country to launch a major dry run. It is not the purists’ UBI – which would give everyone, even billionaires, a monthly sum. Nor will Finlandpublish any results until the two-year pilot is over at the end of 2018. In the meantime, we rely on the testimony of participants such as Järvinen. Which is why I have to fly to Helsinki, then drive the five hours to meet him.
Ask Järvinen what difference money for nothing has made to his life, and you are marched over to his workshop. Inside is film-making equipment, a blackboard on which is scrawled plans for an artists’ version of Airbnb, and an entire little room where he makes shaman drums that sell for up to €900. All this while helping to bring up six children. All those free euros have driven him to work harder than ever.
None of this would have been possible before he received UBI. Until this year, Järvinen was on dole money; the Finnish equivalent of the jobcentre was always on his case about job applications and training. Ideas flow out of Järvinen as easily as water from a tap, yet he could exercise none of his initiative for fear of arousing bureaucratic scrutiny.
UNIVERSAL. BASIC. INCOME. IS. THE. SOLUTION!!!!
Listen tho, it’s a solution that everyone can get behind. In its purest form, it’s completely egalitarian. Every citizen gets the same amount regardless of their income. It allows ALL people to meet their basic needs and thus should nearly eliminate homelessness, hunger, etc. And because it’s the same for every citizen, there’s no onerous process where you have to prove you ~~really need it~ These are the things that liberals and progressives like about it. BUT! THE FUN DOESN’T STOP THERE!
No, this is also a libertarian solution that conservatives should be able to get behind if they can just take half a step back from their violent hatred of poor people. By implementing universal basic income, you immediately eliminate probably dozens of government agencies. All of the institutions that micromanage who gets federal/state assistance and how much and for how long and under what circumstances – gone. Everybody gets a check. It’s that simple. You need one check printing agency and that’s it. It also gives everyone the completely free choice of what to do with that money. If someone chooses to waste it and not use it to secure their basic needs, that’s completely up to them. And they will have to deal with the consequences of their actions.
In my mind, with universal basic income, the only other major federal program we would need would be GODDAMN SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE. These two things together I think could create more freedom and equality than any other plan that doesn’t involve time travel. You have enough money to put a roof over your head and feed yourself. You can go to the doctor if you’re sick or injured. When you don’t have to worry about your basic human needs being met, there are so many more possibilities.