With the threat of automation taking away so many jobs in the future, many are asking how people will survive as the job market tightens and wages go down. Some people are calling for a universal basic income, and it may surprise you to know this concept is not new at all. Thomas Moore called for a sort of universal basic income in his 1516 work, Utopia, as a way to prevent crime and death.
Thomas Paine even called for a universal basic income in the early days of the United States of America to ease the transition toward a landed agrarian lifestyle. Major shifts in economic systems create unease and uncertainty, and it may be possible to ease these transitions by ensuring every citizen has the resources they need to meet their basic needs. Learn more about calls for a universal basic income from the infographic below.
Universal Basic Income:
