FDR – in January 1944 – on a second Bill of Rights

“We cannot be content … if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth—is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.”

FDR:

It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American standard of living higher than ever before known. We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth—is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.

This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty.

As our Nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.

We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. "Necessitous men are not free men." People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all regardless of station, race, or creed.

Among these are:

The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the Nation;

The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

The right of every family to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.

America's own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our citizens. For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world.

from
Franklin D. Roosevelt: "State of the Union Message to Congress," January 11, 1944. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/210825





a UBI proposal from 1918 (Bertrand Russell)

Black Lives Matter endorses UBI

the article the tweet links to includes this block quote on UBI by Dorian T. Warren:

What does this solution do?

A Universal Basic Income (UBI) provides an unconditional and guaranteed livable income that would meet basic human needs while providing a floor of economic security. UBI would eliminate absolute poverty, ensuring economic security for all by mandating an income floor covering basic needs. Unlike most social welfare and social insurance programs, it is not means tested nor does it have any work requirements. All individual adults are eligible.

No other social or economic policy solution today would be of sufficient scale to eradicate the profound and systemic economic inequities afflicting Black communities.

As patterns and norms of “work” change rapidly and significantly in the decades to come — no matter how profound those changes are — it is likely that Black America and other populations that are already disadvantaged will bear the brunt of whatever economic insecurity and volatility results.

A pro-rated additional amount included in a UBI for Black Americans over a specified period of time.

The revenue saved from divesting in criminal justice institutions could be pooled into a fund for UBI; this revenue could be earmarked for the “PLUS” aspect of the policy that would be targeted toward Black Americans. If combined with other funds, it would effectively function as reparations, in a grand bargain with white America: All would benefit, but those who suffered through slavery and continuing racism would benefit slightly more.

Federal Action:

UBI would have to pass both houses of Congress and then be signed by the president. The revenue could be generated by multiple sources which would require structural reforms to the tax code including higher taxes on the wealthy, taxes on public goods like air (carbon tax) or on certain industries (financial transactions tax), or a dividend based on distributing resources from a common-owned asset (like oil).

State Action:

Similar to national policy, UBI would have to pass through state legislatures and be signed by governors. Other instances might require amendments to State Constitutions. The precedent here is the Alaska Permanent Fund, set up in the late 1970s/early 1980s. All residents of Alaska receive an annual dividend based on the invested revenue from the publicly-owned oil reserves.

How does this solution address the specific needs of some of the most marginalized Black people?

UBI would then provide an individual-sustaining basic floor for people who are formerly incarcerated upon re-entry that does not currently exist.

UBI would be an improvement on portions of today’s current safety net and would benefit cash poor Black people the most. Some benefits, such as food stamps, are replete with paternalistic restrictions that rest on racist tropes about recipients and their consumption habits. Others, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), are significantly tied to work, which is problematic when structural racism continues to create so many barriers to Black employment. UBI lacks these flaws.

responding to a phenomenon


“Donald Trump is responding to a global phenomenon … He is not the phenomenon.” —Chris Hedges


the phenomenon is the rage of the dispossessed

the present


I think of Uber as a modern-day version of the Works Progress Administration during the Depression. Thanks to Uber, I am not poor. I am just … nobody.

When I first started driving, I talked to every passenger. I engaged in conversation about the city, life and politics. I told them about my work as a reporter, and as a strip club manager. I felt the need to say, “I’m not really an Uber driver. I am someone too. Just like you!”

Nobody cared.

I found that I could become visible or invisible at will. It’s about the voice. Say “please” and “thank you” and shut up and drive. Don’t make eye contact. People come in with their antenna up and on alert. Once they see you are no threat, they turn you off.

This crushes the ego. As it turns out in my case, that’s a good thing. Next comes acceptance. I am a driver. I drive. I work and go home and then work again. I speak less and listen more. People drone on about their work and lives and I nod as if to agree even as I think, mostly, “what a wanker.”

Only when they initiate conversation do I join in. It just doesn’t matter. Nothing matters.

And that’s when the healing starts. It is Zen and the Art of Uber Driving.

beyond the mind – beyond all thought of past and future – there is only what is

nothing is other than this being

no one is

and what is – this being – is a gift beyond words: the present

* * *

avoid harming any being

avoid killing, stealing, cheating, lying, and otherwise denying awareness of being …
all being, all that is: the present

just be … and do no more than need be done to be and let be*

this being :: Beyond the Mind :: *with loving-kindness, compassion, empathic joy, and equanimity

infrastructure: finance as everyone’s business


public finance, like the law, is a social construct; it’s what we all agree it to be

opinion alert: personal value statement follows

foundations of money and credit: not products to let banks profit, but infrastructure to let people prosper

* * *

Japan may show the rest of us how to spend on worthwhile infrastructure projects by printing money, that is, by moving the interest on new national debt down to zero percent and keeping it there; the next step is to move away from fractional reserve banking by moving the reserve requirement up to one hundred percent and keeping it there.

a physician’s response to religious conflict


At another time of violent religious schism (1689), the physician John Locke (1632–1704) linked three ideas that have together proven to be a powerful and enduring statement of western values—empiricism (Essay Concerning Human Understanding), liberalism (Two Treatises of Government), and tolerance (A Letter Concerning Toleration). His argument about how human beings acquire knowledge of the world provided the basis for his view that political communities are formed out of Nature and Reason. The first law of Nature is Reason, he suggested, and our societies should therefore protect and augment ideas of freedom and equality. He writes powerfully, “that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his Life, Health, Liberty, or Possessions”. The goal of political communities is “the Peace and Preservation of all Mankind”. The purpose of government is “to restrain the partiality and violence of Men”. And these freedoms should extend to religion— ”The Toleration of those that differ from others in Matters of Religion, is so agreeable...to the genuine Reason of Mankind, that it seems monstrous for Men to be so blind, as not to perceive the Necessity and Advantage of it, in so clear a Light.”
A  “coherent and particular view” of being human can make our disintegrating world whole again. It is so true that “a war on Islam will never solve the existential predicament we currently face.” Violence helps no one.
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your Brexit questions answered

Is… is it over?

The constant news? No, it's very much continuing, but there's now some certainty. We've a new prime minister and Britain's negotiations to leave the EU are top of her agenda.

Yeah, I heard about this. 'Brexit means Brexit', right?

Right, except that that doesn't really mean anything. Leaving the EU is one thing, the actual deal you get is quite another. And Theresa May is about to try and solve arguably the most dangerous puzzle in international relations.

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