Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Sheahen, A

Titel

Basic Income Guarantee: Your Right to Economic Security

Auflage

First edition

Ort / Verlag

New York: Palgrave Macmillan

Erscheinungsjahr

2012

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• 01 02 A Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) is the unconditional government-ensured guarantee that all citizens will have enough income to meet their basic needs without a work requirement. Significant questions include: Why should we adopt a BIG? Can the U.S. afford it? Why don't the current welfare programs work? Why not guarantee everyone a job? Would anyone work if his or her income were guaranteed? Has a BIG ever been tested? This book answers these questions and many more in simple, easy-to-understand language. 04 02 1. Introduction: It's Time to Think BIG 2. So What's the BIG Idea? 3. Why Did We Lose the War on Poverty? 4. Did You Know? 5. Why Are Jobs Not the Answer? 6. Why Is There So Much Inequality in the United States? 7. How Do Other Countries Handle Economic Security? 8. Why Should the U.S. Adopt a Basic Income Guarantee? 9. Is a Basic Income Guarantee Moral? 10. Why Should I Work to Support Welfare Chiselers? 11. Why Not Guarantee Everyone a Job? 12. Why Not Try Other Programs? 13. Can the U.S. Afford a Basic Income Guarantee? 14. Will a Basic Income Guarantee Work? 15. Has the Basic Income Guarantee Ever Been Tested? 16. What About the Work Ethic? 17. What Will Life Be Like Under a Basic Income Guarantee? 18. Will a Basic Income Guarantee Threaten Democracy? 19. How Is a Basic Income Guarantee Administered? 20. What's Happening with BIG Around the World? 21. Can America be Convinced? 22. Realistically, What Are the Chances for a BIG in the U.S.? Appendix A. The Cost of a Basic Income Guarantee Appendix B. Current Social Welfare Programs Appendix C. A Brief History of a Basic Income Guarantee Appendix D. Alternate Forms of a Basic Income Guarantee Appendix E. Resources Appendix F. Suggested Reading 08 02 "This book is a great idea - brilliantly stated. Some may think it's ultra-liberal, as they did when I proposed a similar idea in 1972. I see it as true conservatism - the right of income for all Americans sufficient for food, shelter, and basic necessities . Or, what Jefferson referred to as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ." - U.S. Senator George McGovern, 1972 Democratic Party Presidential Candidate "Sheahen and I are as far apart on political philosophy and the causes of the nation's current mess as two people can be, but we both think that a basic income guarantee has to be part of the solution. That says something about the potential of this important idea whose time, as we both hope, is coming. Basic Income Guarantee will help make that happen." - Charles Murray, author of In Our Hands: A Plan to Replace the Welfare State " Basic Income Guarantee is a fascinating, lucid presentation of a complex subject. Sheahen asks and answers the questions of what a just society should and could do to overcome income insecurity. Given our prolonged economic malaise, everyone in America should be thinking about it." - Theresa Funiciello, author of Tyranny of Kindness and head of Social Agenda 'Absent as an issue for almost fifty years, Allan Sheahen places the idea of a basic income for all Americans squarely back on the national agenda. In plain English, this radical idea is not only clearly explained but answers even the toughest objections that can be raised. This book should make sense even to my most dysfunctional colleagues in Congress." - Bob Filner, U.S. Congressman of San Diego and former chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee 13 02 Allan Sheahen is the author of Guaranteed Income: The Right to Economic Security , which was published in 1983. In 2005, Sheahen co-authored, with Karl Widerquist, The Tax Cut for the Rest of Us Act , the first true guaranteed income bill ever introduced in the U.S. Congress. Sheahen is a committee member of the U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network (USBIG) and he has spoken at each of its annual conferences since 2002. He is also a member of the international Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) and has presented papers at several of its biennial conferences. He has volunteered in the USA's VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program in Los Angeles, and he is the domestic group leader in the San Fernando Valley of RESULTS, a national non-profit organization working to end hunger and poverty at home and abroad. 31 02 An updated look at Sheahen's original 1983 work on what a Basic Income Guarantee would mean for the US. 02 02 This book, an updated version of Sheahen's original 1983 work, is a comprehensive look at a Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) and what it would mean for the United States today. 19 02 • GLOBAL: Basic Income is a phenomenon that is sweeping the globe and is far more utilized in other countries than it is in the United States. While the focus of this book is American policy change, it is applicable on a global level. • INTERDISCIPLINARY: Basic income affects the fields of economics, philosophy, sociology, history, and social policy studies. This book is also useful for political activists and practitioners. • POLICY-ORIENTED: The authors will debate the idea of whether it is a good idea to link a progressive social policy. The idea of a BIG has long been misunderstood. In the debate on a modified BIG in the U.S. Congress in the 1970s, Senator Daniel Moynihan said: 'After all the debate, it was not likely that as many as a dozen United States Senators understood the subject.' This book hopes to quash this misunderstanding. • INCOME GUARANTEE ON THE RISE: After the economic boom & bust cycle of recent decades there is increasing talk about ways to protect the bottom tier of the population – the basic income guarantee as exemplified by the Alaska model is one such way, and this book will fit in nicely with the series. • UPDATED VERSION OF BIG SELLER: The book was originally written by Allan Sheahen in 1983, titled: Guaranteed Income: The Right to Economic Security . The book received favorable reviews and, with virtually no promotion, sold more than 1500 copies to schools, libraries, economists, political activists, religious leaders, and others. Sheahen appeared on radio and television programs discussing the idea. Much has happened since 1983 and this will be the fully revamped and up-to-date investigation.