WEBINAR - Basic income: A better world after the pandemic

Extinction Rebellion's Ideas Exchange invited WBI's directors and International Advisory Board members to a panel discussion on basic income. You can watch an edited version here.

Here's some of the many highlights

"Basic income empowers people who hitherto remained disempowered, and may not have been heard forever. Give that money to the people and you will hear them speak." ~ Caroline Teti, GiveDirectly, Kenya

"Is it possible to deliver cash to everyone? Migrants workers make up 20% of my city, but before we didn't see them. We did a pilot here, we said here are 100 names and their mobile numbers and we went to the Postmaster General and said 'Can you deliver this cash through your money order system?' And the next day postmen went to those hundred people and handed over money." ~ Sarath Davala, India Network for Basic Income

In Latin America there is a lot of innovation going on with local currencies. The city of Marica in Brazil has made for the last several years a basic income on a city level through a local curency called Mumbuca. It's backed by a sovereign fund and the Brazilian national currency. And it works! Of course it works, why wouldn't it work?!" ~ Julio Linares, basic income researcher, Guatemala

"People are really worried about where they're gonna get their food next, or their rent next. That makes people fearful and insecure." ~ Barb Jacobson, Basic Income UK

"Direct cash transfers to everybody is what we deserve, and then depending how you fund it it has the potential to solve climate change and other ecological problems as well." ~ Laura Bannister, World Basic Income

"Our commons have been taken off us. They owe us. We want that money back." ~ Paul Harnett, World Basic Income