Why Not Basic Income?

“It’s something new…That will never happen…We’ve never done anything like that before…People need to work…People will be lazy…You shouldn’t get anything for free.”  On and on it goes….

If I did not get survey entries DAILY from people SUFFERING in jobs for one reason or another I would not know the extent of the problem.

People want to be creative and productive. They want to be happy.  They want to just  live.  They want to see their families. They want to use their greatest talents and skills. Mostly people just want to do something they love doing AND be – able – to – eat. That is not too much to ask.  It’s not. It is a reasonable request and getting a basic income could help make that a reality.   At a minimum it’s something to be considered. 

Today, May 1^st is Basic Income Day and I will be tweeting out survey entries throughout the day so those in tweeter land can see that there is a WORLDWIDE need for a fix.

The below is the ThunderClap for Basic Income Day. — It’s a great read with great reference resources and a call to action.

What would you do with a monthly salary, separate and in addition to any other salary, but earned as a right of citizenship and sufficient for you to meet your most basic needs for life? That’s basic income, and that’s what Basic Income Day is about in recognition of the 21st century.

Popularly known as May Day or Labour Day, May 1st has long been a day to internationally recognize the contributions of the global labor movement and its many struggles and achievements over the years. However, where unions once empowered labor and gave us the 40-hour week and the 8-hour day, globalization and advances in technology have severely eroded the ability of unions to effect change.

As automation of the workplace continues to the tune of potentially eliminating half of all current jobs by 2033, and in addition eroding any sense of financial security or consumer buying power through the growth of part-time jobs, low-paid work, temp labor, gig labor, freelancing, and zero-hour contracts, unconditional basic incomerepresents the ability to empower all labor on an individual basis. A newly gained ability to say “No” to any and all employers would have an undeniable effect on individual bargaining power. That means greater sharing of profits and higher wages, better hours and workplace conditions, more benefits, etc.

The achievement of basic income would be the achievement of a new voluntary contract on more equal footing between employer and employee, including the empowerment of the employee to become their own employer by UBI’s functioning as venture capital for the people. It would mean a new age of greater equality, innovation,productivity, and entrepreneurship, where all are finally free to pursue the goals they wish to pursue, and all work could be recognized for its societal value, instead of only paid work as it stands now. Isn’t it time we started recognizing all the important labor going unpaid?

Even Andy Stern, former President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in a forthcoming book explains how basic income is the future of the labor movement, and the policy we must all together now strive for in the 21st century. It’s an idea whose time has come.

So what can you do?

There are many ways to support the idea and to help grow the movement for Basic Income. For one, take part in Basic Income Day by supporting this Thunderclap and by changing your profile photos and sharing basic income content across all social media networks on May 1st. Last year we reached 700,000 people. This year, let’s reach over 1 million!

In Switzerland there will be over 100 robots protesting with the demand for humans to let them do their work. Other robots all over the world are encouraged to join in with their own local robot protests.

What else can you do any day of the year?

• Sign a petition
• Join your national advocacy group
• Spread the message on Social Media – Add #Basicincome to your posts and also add the hashtag to your profile photos
• Study and discuss it – Share Basic Income news with your friends and family and start local meetup groups
• Contact Politicians or the Media – Start to demand it and they will start to listen
• Donate to GiveDirectly to help fund the world’s largest universal basic income experiment so far

Join the growing global movement to create an income floor for everyone.

This is the century of technological emancipation from labor itself. We made it. We’re here. We need only actually embrace it. Unemployment is not something to fear. It is something to welcome.

Without basic income, on the 1st of May we celebrate Human Labour Day.

With basic income, tomorrow we celebrate Machine Labour Day.

Just Quit is Possible...Really It Is...

…not tomorrow…or next week…you CAN Just Quit today if you want to.

Just Quit thinking it’s hopeless. It’s not. 

Just Quit thinking it’s about money in the bank…nope…it’s about ALL available sources of money. You might have to cash it out…vacation, 401K, the house, stuff (or junk) you don’t need; stop buying (or charging) more junk you don’t need; stop going to get $7 Latte’s; stop giving your money to a “church” that wouldn’t give you or a needy person a dime if they needed it (the truth hurts); and a bunch of other stuff we do just because that’s what we do. STOP DOING IT or AT A MINIMUM be MINDFUL of what you are doing.

Just Quit thinking you can’t have your own thing. You better. You better figure it out if you haven’t already. If you are sitting in a job — miserable— and you don’t have your own something  (hobby, website, side business, family business) then don’t blame anyone else for your misery.  Look in the mirror. Instead of wasting time watching television and WORST paying to watch t.v. you need to CREATE something of your own. It doesn’t matter if you can’t figure out HOW you’re going to make money on that thing. You might, you might not.  You just need to be a CREATOR and not just a CONSUMER.

Just Quit thinking everybody else is happy and doing better than you.  They aren’t. If any of us had  a medical emergency today, you, me and most everybody else is in big trouble.  An emergency room visit and hospital stay could wipe us out. Sad, but true. Most folks would and do struggle to pay their bills. So, the folks next door and/or your co-workers are in the struggle with you, so be kind. Smile. Laugh. Make someone ELSE’s day.

So….today…Just Quit feeling hopeless. Start there. You have the Power to see the Possibilities, if you want to.  I don’t say this lightly.  I read the survey results of folks that find this site. FOLKS ARE MISERABLE ALL OVER THE WORLD. All I am saying is that YOU can change your life AND this has NOTHING to do with a JOB or where you work.  You can get through that.  You might not think that you can, but you can. You have so far.

Just Quit & Live is bigger than a job. It is about your LIFE and what you are living to DO and BE. What is your contribution, cause, and mission?   Go & Do That.

Just Quit & Live is a PROCESS. It starts with mindfulness, then you create something, all the while being kind to others who cross your path.  IF you do this…you will not have time or energy to be miserable in your j-o-b. It will pass. It will. Try it.

May you be happy, Ridea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Human Economy Is Coming

For those who want to “Just Quit” their jobs, don’t fret.  You are AHEAD of others who are settling, those who are just going thru the motions or pretending. 

This morning I heard Tiffany Shlain talk about Growing Up the Internet and it was like the cacophony of noise in my head turned into a melody.  I realized that this segment of the working world population (those who find my blog) want something more, and below is what they crave…the something more… 

SOMETHING MORE:

Stop complaining, right now and today.  This moment.  STOP COMPLAINING. STOP FRETTING about how much you hate your JOB.  Be GRATEFUL that you do. You could be one of those SETTLING in a job.

NOW what do you START doing? START developing the skills needed for the new Human Economy that is coming.  Watch the below video—I mean really watch it, then start researching and working on developing  the below skills: 

BE CURIOUS about what interest you.   Get CREATIVE – make something! Take INITIATIVE – do something! Be INCLUSIVE – get beyond labels.  Have EMPATHY – step into the “other’s” shoes…see life thru their eyes.  That is PLENTY to DO…you won’t have time to be wrapped up in a job structure that is dead or dying out….get ahead of the pack…chart the course “Just Quit & Live” people….  

The Adaptable Mind from The Moxie Institute on Vimeo.

What is Mental Slavery?

The below comment came in this weekend from someone who works in Ad Sales for a Magazine:

“I feel like a mental slave every day. My ancestors were slaves, fought for their freedom, and now I am letting myself get trapped into legal and socially acceptable slavery.”

Mental Slavery: What a concept. Many workers aren’t working in physically exhausting jobs, but are mentally exhausted.  Just googling mental slavery was interesting.

Letting yourself get trapped:  The first step to getting unstuck is to admit that you are stuck and feel like a slave. You can then do something about it.

Legal and Socially Acceptable Slavery: It is called the labor “market” after all. The only way around this is to create something of value, live frugally and not HAVE to participate in the labor market, or to be able do it on your own terms.

Fighting for your freedom:  You can break the cycle of mental slavery.  Admit it. Accept it. Take Action. Let Go. Let Come. 

The more I analyze the comments that are coming in the more I know that an awakening is happening worldwide.  People are waking up.  No longer buying into allowing the rich to get richer while they labor and suffer with little reward.  

 

 

 

 

Share the Wealth With Basic Income

With a basic income those who want to “Just Quit” could.

Monthly Income

With this income you could pay off your debt and start saving to have six months of expenses so you could move on from a job making you mentally and physically ill. Yes, it’s political (because it’s about who gets the money), but it’s practical (give the money to the people). The more I study it the more it makes sense.

At The Bottom

This is an image that I CAN NOT get out of my head. It haunting to me. Haunting. It’s all those people at the bottom “working for all” yet NOT benefiting from their labor. Just falling down, and beat down.

Flatten Wages and Technology – Shifting Economics

It has dawned on me after five years of blogging about Just Quitting and three years of survey results that the REASONS that people are feeling the way they are is because: globalization has flattened wages (that’s not going to change back to the way it was) and technology is displacing workers (that’s only going to get worse).

There isn’t much incentive to work to live anymore.  People can’t go on…they don’t want to. There are huge structural shifts happening in the work world and people are feeling the shift. Basic Income makes sense. It’s a way out of this mess. The wealth has to be shared. Many of my tweets and posts will be referencing the Industrial Revolution 4.0 and Basic Income.

I am going to record and show what it feels like for Humans At The Beginning of An Economic Worldwide Shift.  

 

4th Industrial Revolution - The Human Impact

I will begin tweeting some survey results. I will not be able to tweet every survey entry because there are too many. We currently have over 7,500 entries from 117 countries.

I want the world to understand that folks who want to “Just Quit” their jobs are NOT crazy, they are NOT lazy, and they are NOT quitters.  They are innovators, they are brave, they are honest and they are ahead of the pack.

Something dramatic is happening in the world work as we move into the 4th Industrial Revolution and people worldwide are feeling the pain of these changes.

I want people who find this blog to know that they are NOT alone.  I have been blogging about this now for five years and FINALLY have made the connection to what is happening and why it is happening.

Now it is a matter of being the voice and recorder for those aware and awake as we all live on the cusp of this change in the work world and the impact it is having on the labor “market”.  I don’t want to give statistics  and numbers but highlight real people and real stories.

Thanks to those who complete the survey.  I understand your pain. I was there 13 years ago. It is real. You are not crazy.  You are not alone.  You are a step ahead of where others will find themselves in due time.

~Ridea

 

Danaja's Place - Moving Forward

 

Back in 2014 I registered the name Danaja’s Place with the City, then I changed the name of my Etsy shop to Danaja’s Place and started collecting boho fashion to list. A couple of weeks ago I posted the Corners post. I went to a couple of bookstores and even the library and envisioned somebody in the corner helping people flesh out their ideas.

Giving people hope that they can “Just Quit” dead-end jobs, and/or create a life worth living while they work those jobs. A place to learn the skills that will be needed for the 4th Industrial Revolution (which is here…although many are not aware that this is the main reason for misery in jobs that are dying out.)

Saturday morning I woke up,  got dressed and went in the general direction of Huntersville and found the perfect little space for Danaja’s Place.   It is on the main road.  It has a store front for local affirmation art, books and boho fashions and a space in the back for classes, collaboration and creativity.  I’m not even wondering HOW this is supposed to work out. If it is meant to work out, then it will.  Not stressing on the HOW. I’m  just going to move forward and see where this takes me.  

“Sometimes in life all you need to do is move forward and see where it takes you.” ~ Ridea Richardson 

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P.S. Update 2-19-16 Made a phone call, did a little research on-line and decided not to move forward on this location…but…the seed has been planted!