An unconditional basic movement is gaining traction in Germany and Brazil. Link to 6 min. trailer with English subtitles to a movie about Bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen(unconditional basic income)
http://dotsub.com/view/1689fc6f-bade-4482-8829-04c0635f4731 The Basic Income Earth Network: http://www.basicincome.org/bien A Journal on Basic Income: http://www.bepress.com/bis/ Basic Income signed into law in Brazil in 2004 but not implemented: http://www.nodo50.org/redrentabasica/textos/index.php?x=255 Small scale Basic Income experiment in Brazil: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/BIG-QUATINGA-VELHO/117066824987781?v=info Larger Scale Basic Income experiment recently completed in Nambia: http://www.bignam.org/ Article. Basic Income Grants Alleviate Poverty in Namibia: http://www.policyinnovations.org/ideas/briefings/data/000163 Harry ----- Original Message ---- > From: Jed Rothwell <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Mon, December 20, 2010 3:30:25 PM > Subject: Re: [Vo]:Web site and book about robots rendering human labor obsolete > > Here's a good quote from book, p. 220, in the Q&A section: > > > [OBJECTION TO THESIS] If technology resulted in unemployment, everyone would >already be out of a job because technological progress has been going on for >hundreds of years. > > [REBUTTAL] This really just amounts to saying “it hasn’t happened yet, so it >will never happen.” History has proven time and again that, where >technology > > >is concerned, something can be impossible since the dawn of civilization and >then suddenly, in the blink of an eye, become possible. Revolutionary >technologies, such as the airplane and nuclear power, where all dismissed >as > > >being impossible even by preeminent scientists who were involved in the >research that led to their development. > > Today, most of us accept that technology will continue to advance and > produce >things that we might currently view as impossible. However, we still think >too >narrowly. We accept that there will be new technologies, new products and >new >industries, but most of us are not prepared to accept that all this will >change > > >the basic economic rules that we take for granted. But why wouldn’t >that > > >be the case? Is there a fundamental reason why accelerating technology >should >impact nearly every aspect of our lives -- but not impact the way the economy >works? > > > - Jed > >
