The latest socialist fantasy is “universal basic income;” it simply titillates them with dreams of universal control of incomes. Most Americans just want a level playing field, but Socialists are certain average folks cannot compete much less prosper. Therefore, they covet universal power to give everyone the same score.
Proponents promote universal basic income as a comprehensive safety net for everyone. Instead of myriad benefit programs to care for the masses; they believe they will liberate the masses with no strings attached monthly incomes. Spend it anyway you like. They tell us it will give the unemployed the latitude to find the job they like or start a new business or maybe just move to Colorado to make incredible cultural contributions in art or music. The poor will be free to pursue their dreams while tax payers share their income fairly.
Of course, such a bold innovative idea cannot be implemented all at once, so we must keep all the benefit programs in transition. Some people have fallen on hard times, but others just make poor life choices. In celebrating their new freedom with basic incomes or maybe overloading on art supplies, some will inevitably forget to save some basic income for food or rent. So there is a great risk that many folks may pursue happiness with their basic income, but still wind up hungry and homeless
Undeterred by human nature, Finland with 9.2% unemployment embarked on a universal basic income experiment in January 2017. They selected 2,000 unemployed Finns to receive $685 per month for two years with no conditions on how they spend it. The social engineers running the program requested $50-80 million more dollars to continue and expand the program to employed Finns in 2019. Examining the initial results, the Finnish government decided to pull the plug on this socialist boondoggle.
With a personal income tax rate of 51.6%, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found that Finland would have to increase personal income taxes another 30% to fund universal incomes with contrary results. The program would actually increase income inequality; Finnish poverty levels would increase from 11.4% to 14.1%.
With a bloated convoluted social security system, Finland is investigating other reforms. They favor the new UK “universal credit system;” it simply combines all benefits into a one stop shop single credit system. Not really changing the benefits, it just streamlines the administration. Finland is also eyeballing negative income tax; this system eliminates income tax below a certain threshold and at an even lower threshold, poor Finns would receive tax rebates even though they paid no taxes.
Negative income tax is just a euphemism for income redistribution, but Americans should not laugh. We already have it; it’s called a progressive tax code and the Earned Income Credit (EIC). About 47% of the lowest income earners in the US pay no income taxes and a significant portion of them receive tidy EIC sums of $1-7,000 every year. Decades of income redistribution have not lowered poverty in America, but it’s taking a toll on the middle class. Wages are stagnant and purchasing power is eroding.
Finland figured it out, but in America we continue progressive policies that increase income inequality. According to CNBC, the top 1% of American income earners own 38.6% of the American wealth and that continues to grow. The Guardian just reported the world’s richest 1% will control 2/3 of global wealth by 2030. We are going the wrong way because globalists here and abroad insist on progressive policies to give everyone a fair share.
Elitists like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg believe it a noble cause even though everyone gets a smaller share except of course the 1% who orchestrates this inane enlightenment. Or, we have populist socialists like Bernie Sanders who cloaks this ruse in his promised new program to give every American a federal job. The top 1% in wealth or government will have all the best food, homes, and healthcare while the rest of us stand in line for our basic income.
Freedom comes with risk, but provides opportunity for those who will seize it. There will be winners and losers, but we have the freedom to try. With Socialism, you can only hope your fair share sustains your family.
“You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours.” Psalms 128:2
