Happy December first and Welcome to the third and final installation of my mini, three part series on how basic income might help to create a more caring world!
The mornings are much colder now on this little Island in the sea and while the morning light has a special quality to it and the Christmas light displays are dazzling in the evening time, there is still so much darkness which needs acknowledging// dispelling here. So many Islanders are struggling with meeting their basic needs that the food banks here are seeing record numbers of households arriving daily.
I truly believe that basic income has the power to help create a more equitable and compassionate world.
Here are my Leadnow survey answers (ever so slightly edited for here) as promised yesterday:
Question one is on the impact of the cost of living crisis *on my family and/or in my community:
The cost of living crisis has, and continues to, brutalize my family and my community. Brutalize is not a word I use lightly, but the crushing effects of runaway inflation and the disgusting greed of corporations is doing just that.
My family and I almost lost our modest home during the pandemic. We had pandemic income loss, serious illness and the stress of the cost of living crisis literally almost lost us our marriage as well. If it wasn't for the support of family we would have had to sell and then due to the housing crisis we would not have been able to afford to house ourselves.
I see firsthand how persons in marginalized communities are suffering the most ill effects; BIPOC persons, those with autism/disability, members of the LGBTQ2+ COMMUNITIES, and/or those suffering from inter- generational effects of trauma/abuse. The high degree of intersectionality of persons who are marginalized and being the most harmed by the cost of living crisis is real.
Add in the climate crisis and the harm it is causing...such as at least three houses in my very small neighborhood still not safe enough for the homeowners to return to live there more than a year after Hurricane Fiona devastated PEI...and you can see how harmed people are.
Food bank usage is skyrocketing while the ability of persons and businesses to donate is down. I overheard a nurse speaking with someone at a clinic last week saying that she wondered if we were headed for the hardship of the 1930's. The 1930's!!
The horror stories of persons working full time or three jobs and still not making ends meet is real. My family and I live at this juncture.
And all of this can be mitigated by basic income and wealth/windfall tax.
We supposedly live in a civilized democracy and yet corporations keep getting richer and richer and the ability of most average Canadians to make ends meet is greatly diminishing...it is terrifying and has serious health repercussions for those living at the most brutal intersections of these crises.
I mean, come on, seriously look at what you are hearing from people. We can and must do better! Thanks for your efforts in this!
Question two is on imagining your life if basic income were implemented:
I am imagining that it would bring the dignity of knowing that in hard times I would still have backup security to meet my basic needs...
I could consider going back to school so I could have the tools to better my situation and that of my family...
I could stop worrying that my young adult kids won't earn enough to be fed and housed if/when they choose to leave our home and strike out on their own...and rest a little easier knowing that they would not have to work several jobs while going to school...they could focus on their education and//or safely live in ways which honour their neurodivergent wiring...
I could give more energy to advocating for increased awareness of the challenges and gifts of neurodivergence (and autism in particular) while better caring for my own health concerns (consequences of living well into middle age before understanding my own autism)
...and I could give more volunteer time to my community...
I could give care to those family members who need it without suffering financial burnout along with emotional caregiver burnout...
It would bring dignity and a measure of ease where these are currently absent...it would bring compassionate care by softening the harsh edges of a world ruled by corporate elites and bottom dollar decision making...one which before our very eyes has become more and more heartless and brutal.
Wow...just imagine the possibility...and mine is just one life...but imagine the caring that could occur when people are seen in their suffering and met where they are, without judgment and with an abundance of care.
And question number 3 is what you want to tell Senate about Basic Income:
Thank you for serving as a Senator. But please remember that you are in a distinct position of privilege and power...and that you literally wield the ability to influence decisions on basic income implementation...a basic income that could bring so much goodness and the brightness of hope to people in an era when so many are currently living in the darkness of confusion, fear, hunger, cold and hopelessness.
Please use your privilege for good and vote in favour of basic income. Please educate other politicians on its myriad demonstrated benefits in terms of social, physical and emotional well being, for they are truly intertwined. Persons cannot be well when they are living in poverty.
Basic income could be an antidote to despair for so many Canadians in need.
It could be a powerful tool in the reconciliation process.
As well, the level of caring for nameless others which basic income represents could also be a powerful statement against the sort of othering that is horrifyingly increasingly happening in communities across the world and terrifyingly, across Canada as well.
A Basic Income would not be a catch all or a magic wand but it could be a very good place to begin to repair our eroding social care network by creating an income floor which no one could fall beneath rather than our current net with gaping holes and gaps.
Recalling how highly debated universal health care was before its historic implementation could be a powerful reminder that it is vital that we be courageous and heart centered when looking at how we care about those in most need.
Basic income, in my mind, should not replace any social services such as disability support but be in addition to...as in...no one already receiving governmental support should be in worse shape on basic income...
My home province of PEI is looking to implement a five to seven year demonstration project here. We are the perfect place to witness the good that can come from implementation of a basic income. https://www.gbireport.ca/
Please be our champion in Ottawa!
And on a final note...basic income could be a starting point for reducing income inequality and recognizing and honouring the fact that women's roles are not valued equally nor are the children of this nation properly being cared for.
Currently more than a third of children in my home province of PEI live in food insecure households! This is a horror and a disgrace. So too is the suffering of the forgotten communities of Indigenous persons whose right to determine how a basic income might look in their communities must be honoured.
These are human rights issues that basic income could help to address.
I leave you with this quote from a paper on BIG, women and climate adaptation by human rights activist and BIG advocate, Josephine Grey:
"Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on poverty, has released a report about the urgent importance of the BIG to the world. In his words:
'…. economic insecurity represents a fundamental threat to human rights. It is not only a threat to the enjoyment of economic and social rights, even though they are a principal concern. Extreme inequality, rapidly increasing insecurity, and the domination of politics by economic elites in many countries, all threaten to undermine support for, and ultimately the viability of, the democratic systems of governance upon which the human rights framework depends.' http://basicincome.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/UN.report.pdf
This said, I recognize that the GBI report was written in a fashion to demonstrate that without making any great changes to systems as they stand, we can implement basic income to support those in greatest need. And this is admirable for there is not time to waste in getting help quickly in the hands of those who need it most.
BUT in an ideal world, I would love to see all of us as, we are able, change the systems as they stand and press even harder for a wealth tax//windfall tax to pay for basic income programs and other vital social programs nationally.
I don't want to cast blame on us all for allowing corporations to get away with scandalous profits while their workers cannot afford decent food and safe and secure housing, but if we do not challenge the status quo on wealth, then the rich will truly keep getting richer and the rest of us will grow more and more poor.
There have been wonderfully successful people led movements the world over who have taken governments and corporations to task. Let us not be complicit in the harm that unequal distribution of wealth brings. Let us have the courage to act now.
Thanks for taking time from your day to read my words. Your presence here with me is deeply appreciated.
Be well friend!
Jill
*Hand on heart and offering self kindness, while there is real pain, there is no shame in my story, for I am only giving voice to truth.