We speak with Ethel Long-Scott of the Women’s Economic Agenda Project (WEAP) about the crises of poverty and un/under-employment that are not expected to improve under the current system due to technology and robotics and the need for new solutions such as an unconditional basic income. Then Steve Shafarman, a life member of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), discusses the history of basic income and how it works to immediately end poverty and guarantee that all people can meet their basic needs and live with dignity.
Listen here:
The Urgent Need for a Guaranteed Basic Income with Ethel Long-Scott and Steve Shafarman by Clearingthefog on Mixcloud
Relevant articles and websites:
Women’s Economic Agenda Project
Guests:
Ethel Long-Scott is Executive Director of the Women’s Economic Agenda Project, headquartered in downtown Oakland. For 40 years, in jobs that ranged from grassroots community organizer to non-profit CEO, she has pushed, poked, prodded and worked cooperatively with the political, economic and civic establishments on a mission to increase social and economic justice. She works tirelessly with labor and community groups to create visionary opportunities for creative social change where none seemed to exist. She believes in building broad social movements to create social change. She is one of the first recipients of Essence Magazine’s “Street Warrior.
Steven Shafarman is program director of Basic Income Action, a new national organization that’s working to provide economic security for all Americans. He has been writing about these ideas since the mid 1980s, and is a life member of the BIEN, the Basic Income Earth Network. His forthcoming book is The Basic Income Imperative: for peace, justice, liberty, and personal dignity.
