In advance of a June 23rd noontime rally for Basic Income (info below) in Charlottetown, PEI I am sharing an exercise I did for a wonderful Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Systems Theory and Just Transition (Towards Cooperative Commonwealth: Transition in a Perilous Century) which I have been taking for several months now. The intent of the analysis of Basic Income using a systems theory tool is to make some of the concepts more visually accessible and the knowledge more relatable.
I took some local news stories of difficulties Islanders face (admittedly I did not include housing and the deep intersectionality (crossover) that BIPOC and LGBTQ2+ persons face though I include these and other marginalized groups in "those marginalized" and my talk on "othering") and imagined good news stories that might be written about here once Basic Income is implemented and some dignity returned to people who are struggling to meet their basic needs.
The tip of the iceberg is what we see (Events) and the remainder is less obvious or beneath the surface and powerful place to leverage points for change. Beneath the Events are Patterns that occur, then beneath Patterns are those Structures in place that cause patterns and events to recur and beneath Structures are the Mental Modes or mindsets upholding the system as it stands.
Excerpts shared here are copied from my course June 2023 Module five MOOC refection>>
“…only focusing on events doesn’t get us beyond reactivity." Drew Jones on Iceberg Thinking.
For my iceberg analysis on basic income I based my sketches here on notes from two papers: The 23/02/24 Atlantic Position Paper on Basic Income authored this year by a group of Basic Income advocates from Atlantic Canada as well as Why a Guaranteed Livable Income? authored by Canadian Senator Kim Pate
And my reflection is loosely written in reference to Basic Income on PEI. ( A five year demonstration project is in the offing here!)
Events: Tip of the Iceberg…reactivity lives here…whatever issues we address in silos here are more or less bandaid solutions (though important in transition to bring people urgent/crisis support)
Recent PEI Events:
Cost of living crisis/housing crisis coupled with pandemic and Hurricane Fiona
local news story on a study on wellbeing of local artists indicating that a lack of stable income is having negative effects on mental wellbeing of artists here
local news story on the dramatically increased rate of childhood food insecurity here
local news story on foodbank and community fridge usage on the rise with seniors here
local news story on the way Hurricane Fiona impacted overall wellbeing including food security here
Imagined Events after Basic Income implemented:
Local good news story on artists improved wellbeing when they are free to do their art thanks to basic income ensuring they have a more stable income
Local good news story on the eradication of child poverty and improved wellbeing of children Including more stability in homes
Local good news story on food banks turning into lending libraries and community fridges turned into communal sharing spaces for food swaps from garden excess, restaurant excess etc
Local good news story about how persons receiving basic income have improved mental wellbeing from knowing they have the means to engage in storm preparedness as storms are frequent on this little Island. This time people are actually able to stock an emergency storm stash of non-perishables as compared to last hurricane in 2022 and the food security nightmare it caused so many—a mutual aid society here literally saved lives then.
Precarity of work>>
On PEI much of the work is seasonable, low paid and insecure (pt or precarious ft) work in tourism, agriculture (including migrant workers), fisheries (including migrant workers). Many workplaces struggled to keep their doors open and/or retain employees during the pandemic. Work became harder as workplace demands and conditions worsened. Hurricane Fiona in Sept 2023 didn’t help any work be less precarious.
Patterns:
Think what keeps recurring here?…I do hope that as we as a culture learn to take the Reconciliation process more seriously so we will learn new ways of being that will allow us to see ways out of these repeating patterns so entrenched in neoliberalism
Seasonal unemployment means in winter it’s even more difficult to make ends meet
Wages not keeping up with ordinary cost of living not to mention, skyrocketing inflation
Imagined Patterns after Basic Income:
Basic income means that people can work part time or go to school and not have as much difficulty meeting their needs
Seasonal industries have more ease securing a greater number of part time workers as people are willing to work in these challenging jobs for fewer hours…so more people will work since the incredibly long and laborious work is too hard for so many to do full time but we still need workers to grow and harvest food
Precarity of work >>
Migrant workers too often in precarious work scenarios
Too many meaningless jobs and urban sprawl is creating more and more disengaged and disheartened workers
Structures:
Non-inclusive//ableist workplace environment perpetually excludes those who need more flexibility in work
“Income assistance locks families into generational cycles of poverty.” (Atlantic Position Paper on Basic Income)
“All current provincial and territorial social assistance levels are wholly inadequate.” (Sen Pate)
“Market Basket Measure does not take enough people into account (leaves out those in remote, rural and Indigenous communities).” (Sen Pate)
Imagined Structures after Basic Income implemented:
Policies in place to support workplace inclusion have come about as Autistic and other Neurodivergent and/or disabled persons have fewer struggles to meet basic needs and more energy and time to advocate for increased inclusiveness in workplaces etc
Advocates for social justice can turn their energies towards ensuring that those other support systems required to ensure everyone is cared for are strengthened rather than undermined
Persons living in Indigenous and remote communities can focus energy on policies to serve their local communities now that their basic needs are being met.
Basic Income using a wealth tax to fund it could be an example of a strong negative feedback loop which could weaken the “success to the successful” structures that bring increased ease and benefit to those who are in most secure positions of wealth, education and power…and strengthen those structures which could help “provide individuals with options to get a leg up and out of poverty.” Sen Pate
Mental Modes:
“The Poor are always with us”…that there will always be poor people is simply an antiquated mindset that capitalism monopolized to normalize the perpetuation of inequities built into neoliberalism
“If I can work then so can ‘they’.”
Fear that basic income would create “communities of layabouts…These attitudes are rooted in and perpetuate discriminatory biases against the poor as well as derogatory class and race based stereotypes.” Sen Pate
Imagining that after basic income is implemented the mental modes would shift to seeing all the good that comes from people having their basic needs met in a more dignified manner than the current welfare state affords. By treating everyone with the dignity they deserve as part of their birthright, people will begin to heal from the trauma and shame that comes from living on the margins. Basic Income will help us all to see that when the marginalized become more centered that everyone’s well being improves. When part of our population is struggling we all benefit from their healing. We will become a true community of caring humans and we see that everyone has something to contribute to the goodness of the world.
Scaling up:
Basic Income implementation needs to be unique to the population base it serves:ie)
It must be respectful and inclusive and informed by Indigenous rights and needs
It must reflect the unique circumstances of the population it serves (in remote areas the cost of living is higher therefore basic income there must reflect this difference)
It must not replace those other services that certain populations deserve such as disability supports
Scaling out:
An inclusive Basic Income will serve to provide positive impact on those in precarious work and those who are unable to work for various reasons such as care roles that are unrecognized by neoliberalism, as well, it will center more persons who are on the periphery by creating space for the possibility of retraining to improve their lot or by creating opportunities for new volunteer experiences, home businesses, education etc
Scaling deep:
As a culture used to turning a blind eye to those on the margins, I am not sure that we can truly understand what beauty could come from taking entire segments of the population who have been marginalized by neoliberalism and essentially saying “we see you, we value you, we want you to do well and be well”…and even to stretch this image, since we are going deep here, to say “we are you and you are us.”
Basic income has great potential for reducing the kind of othering that has taken over too much of the goodness potential of the world. Othering is crowding out the space in our collective hearts where love is meant to roost. It is fostering hatred and violence instead of love and harmony. As those on the margins are centered, listened to, valued it is my deep wish that our world will blossom with the caring that we are designed for.
I guess that the point of this iceberg exercise and scaling circles was to see that there are a million and one factors at play and that seeing leverage points for systems change is tricky but possible. Also to understand that these leverage points vary from scenario to scenario and place to place.
My fave thing Systems theorist Donella Meadows said:
1. The power to transcend paradigms.
There is yet one leverage point that is even higher than changing a paradigm. That is to keep oneself unattached in the arena of paradigms, to stay flexible, to realize that NO paradigm is “true,” that every one, including the one that sweetly shapes your own worldview, is a tremendously limited understanding of an immense and amazing universe that is far beyond human comprehension. It is to “get” at a gut level the paradigm that there are paradigms, and to see that that itself is a paradigm, and to regard that whole realization as devastatingly funny. It is to let go into Not Knowing, into what the Buddhists call enlightenment. https://donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-places-to-intervene-in-a-system/
I don’t think that there is anything which shuts down possibility more than "knowing".
Rally info below taken from Chris O's Citizen Alliance Newsletter:
Friday, June 23rd:
The BIG Rally, 12noon, outside the Coles Building,
from the Facebook event notice:
"Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) has the potential to uplift individuals and families out of poverty, foster economic stability, and create a more equitable society. Premier Dennis King has made a promise to implement BIG with the assistance of the federal government.
The PEI Working Group for a Liveable Income (PEI WGLI) has been active in obtaining petition signatures on behalf of Coalition Canada basic income. We’d like to invite you to Coles building at noon on June 23 to help them with their initiative.
We’ll have guest speakers on hand including: Laurie Michael & Marie Burge from the PEI WGLI, Island New Democrat leader Michelle Neill, CUPE PEI president Ashley Clark, PSAC Area Council Debi Buell, PEI Federation of Labour president Carl Pursey..."
If you've made it this far, thank you and I hope to see you at the rally Friday!
Cheers,
Jill
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