Universal Basic Income

Here’s how the Greens represent a “paradigm shift” . . .

Naturally we, along with just about all currents of the left, are in favor of the Universal Basic Income (UBI) idea:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_basic_income

The wealth/income inequality in this country (and most capitalist countries) is obscene, and UBI would do a bit to redress that scandalous situation.

It’s not socialism. Socialism is about public rather than private ownership/control of society’s productive assets. UBI is a program concordant with the ideologies of left-liberalism and social democracy.

It would help people and it should be implemented. So Greens join liberals and social democrats and socialists in advocating for it. That’s a simple, straightforward twentieth century no-brainer policy prescription.

But Greens should add this nuance to the discussion: Ultimately, statist dependency is not ideal. UBI, like government-funded single-payer health insurance, is the best among the proposals currently “on the table” for consideration. Let’s promote it because it would be good, but let’s also provide the ultimate vision of how this would be handled in a truly Green society. Re: our key values Decentralization, Grassroots Democracy, Community-based Economics, and Respect for (local) Diversity it will be better when social issues are handled in a communitarian way rather than a statist way.

That, in addition to ecological consciousness, is the essence of our “new paradigm” thinking. The bumpersticker slogan:

Ecology and Community
.… The Green Party ….

indicates, in a nutshell, what’s new, what’s ideologically more advanced, more sophisticated, about the Green worldview. It has the potential to transform leftism in our time.