10  Oct
The History of UBI

Universal Basic Income was not an idea invented by Andrew Yang. It was an idea proposed back in the renaissance era. The only reason it wasnt enacted back then was that jobs were quite available back then so there was no incentive to give out cash payments to people.

Thomas paine was for the idea in the late 1700s. Then Martin Luther king was for it in the late 60s before his life was taken.

The oddity with Martin Luther King was while we always remember him for fighting for racial equality, traditionally none of us don’t remember him for fighting for a basic income.

Interestingly enough, since he proposed it in the 60s, UBI was almost passed into national law in the early 70s. It passed in the house but failed in the senate because democrats wanted a higher basic income. Looking back, one retired democrat said something along the lines of “the worst decision we ever made”.

So the idea goes quiet for some 40 years or so until prominent figures left and right start opening up to the idea. This included Jack Dorsey, The Pope, Elon Musk, Andrew Yang, Milton Friedman, Greg Mankiw, and many more.

Ever Since Andrew Yang’s presidential run, the world has exploded with UBI programs. It’s as if thanks to him people had suddenly realized the importance of canceling poverty by just giving everyone money.

Posted by Jack Burrows, filed under History. Date: October 10, 2020, 3:53 am | 2 Comments »

2 Responses

  1. Nick Hogan Says:

    Hi Jack,
    The idea of Universal Basic Income is as interesting as it is controversial. People seem to either love it or hate it, and there’s no coincidence that it tends to correlate with the person’s political leanings. I didn’t realize how many famous advocates this notion has, and it would be extremely fascinating to see this concept put to the test in the United States.

  2. Ashley Sherwood Says:

    That’s super interesting that we don’t learn certain things about famous people in our history classes. I never knew Martin Luther King fought for universal basic income, but it would make sense looking at his track record of morals and beliefs. Thanks for sharing some of your history knowledge with us!

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