Nearly Free

Here are some recent posts from Post-Scarcity Warriors regarding things being free or nearly free. The New York Times image could be a banner for the Warriors.

You may have noticed the development of the SOFF site has been significantly delayed, but all the pieces are in place thus eventually it will all be drawn together into a polished end product, at some point. These things take time.

Bertrand Russell Advocated #BasicIncome

Basic income is an unconditional income guarantee. In theory this benefit (welfare payment) is given by the government to all citizens of a nation without any conditions for receiving the benefit.

Recipients of basic income would not need to be unemployed, working, or searching for work. Workers and unemployed people would both receive basic income without question. Receipt of basic income does not depend upon your savings thus you can receive the benefit regardless of savings or other capital. There is no way a person can forfeit receipt of basic income. When people state it is "unconditional" they really mean it, thus in addition to calling it "basic income" people often call it "unconditional basic income" or "universal basic income guarantee" or other variations.

There have been some temporary successful basic income tests, on small populations, but in the year 2013 basic income has not yet been implemented in a widespread or permanent manner. Times are however changing, there is White House petition (archive) for the implementation of basic income (15th December 2013 deadline), and a Swiss referendum is pending regarding the implementation of basic income.

Importantly I want to draw your attention to how the "philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic" Bertrand Russell advocated basic income. Bertrand Russell is noteworthy person who has deeply considered the issue of receiving money without needing to work. Bertrand Russell did not actually use the words "basic income" (basic income is a new phrase) but Bertrand Russell did advocate an unconditional income for all people, which would leave people "free" if they decided they didn't want to do any work.

On page 102 of "Proposed Roads to Freedom," accessible via Project Gutenberg (free online library), Bertrand Russell stated (bold emphasis added): "When education is finished no one should be COMPELLED to work." Bertrand Russell believed people should be "completely free" from the need or obligation to work. The document in question, Proposed Roads to Freedom, is also freely available via zpub.com (archived). Below is the relevant excerpt from Proposed Roads to Freedom (first published in 1918):

"When education is finished no one should be COMPELLED to work, and those who choose not to work should receive a bare livelihood, and be left completely free; but probably it would be desirable that there should be a strong public opinion in favor of work, so that only comparatively few should choose idleness. One great advantage of making idleness economically possible is that it would afford a powerful motive for making work not disagreeable; and no community where most work is disagreeable can be said to have found a solution of economic problems. I think it is reasonable to assume that few would choose idleness, in view of the fact that even now at least nine out of ten of those who have (say) 100 pounds a year from investments prefer to increase their income by paid work."

The psychoanalyst Erich Fromm also allegedly supported the idea of basic income. Fromm apparently advocated basic income in his books "Ways Out of a Sick Society" and "To Have or to Be?" but unfortunately, after some online searching, I haven't found any significant corroboration of Fromm's support for basic income. If you have access to the aforementioned books by Fromm perhaps you could post copies of the relevant excerpts online.

Basic Income Referendum Switzerland

I am continuing to build the SOFF site, I have been severely delayed, hopefully I should finish before the end of 2013. In the meantime it is good to note Basic Income progress in Switzerland. Enough signatures have been collected for a referendum on Basic Income.

The Daily Mail wrote (archive): "Enno Schmidt, founder of Generation Basic Income Initiative, says he wants government to implement an unconditional basic income (UBI), Ruptly.TV reported." The Daily Mail also stated: "The initiative aims to have a minimum monthly disposal household income of CHF 2,500 (US$ 2,700) given by the government to every citizen living in Switzerland." Yahoo news wrote (archive): "Funding for the proposed measure would come out of the Swiss social insurance system, which already guarantees universal health care coverage for its citizens, along with other benefits designed to uphold the country’s social safety net." This news was also reported on by Gawker.

Here is a post about it via the Post-Scarcity Warriors, which contains additional reports:

Here is a video regarding this Swiss Basic Income news:

Delays Creating SOFF Site

I have been rather delayed creating this site, when I first published this blog-post I was hoping to finish creating SOFF before the end of July 2013. Now, updating the post on 1st September 2013, it seems I was too hopeful. Midway through building this site I decided to create another site called Futuristic Reader, which is a simple site, it was almost complete when I initially composed this blog-post, but I became rather delayed because our world is incredibly depressing, from my viewpoint, thus the simplest of things is a struggle. Futuristic Reader was created to replace the demise of Google Reader.

All the stupid people constitute an almost unstoppable avalanche of insanity. Attempting to educate them is utterly agonising, exasperating.
— SINGULARITY UTOPIA (@2045singularity) September 1, 2013

Anyway regarding SOFF, I was close to finishing compiling all the content back in mid to late June 2013 (I had been writing the content off-line). The styling merely required fine but significant tuning for the best visual impression. I shall now during September October continue from where I paused.

On June 18th 2013 I sent a Tweet to Penn Jillette regarding the Famous Support page. I was hoping, not realistically, he would get the ball rolling, but nothing happened. It's such a hard, thankless task explaining the future, very depressing, not surprising I am delayed. Here is the Tweet to Jillette:

@pennjillette you love science and are Singularity-aware. So I wonder, could U give +quote to get this page started? http://t.co/6uYASyNPOh
— SINGULARITY UTOPIA ⎔ (@2045singularity) June 18, 2013

Here is a SOFF archive archive.is/I40lE (2nd Oct 2013), which I'll log here for my personal reference while I am making changes, designing the site.