CPJ attends USBIG Congress 2009

Last weekend I was in New York to attend the 2009 Congress of the US Basic Income Guarantee Network. USBIG is the American equivalent of the new Canadian group BIEN Canada.

The conference provided a stimulating weekend of learning, dialoguing and sharing inspiration about guaranteed livable income (GLI). Canadians were well represented, as Conservative Senator Hugh Segal gave the opening address and New Democratic Member of Parliament Tony Martin was one of the closing speakers.

There was also a panel devoted to Canada, with presentations on Ontario’s Deprivation Index, health outcomes from the 1970s Mincome experiment, and possible architecture for a Canadian guaranteed income system.

I also presented a paper on the work disincentive, deconstructing the assumptions behind it and arguing that the work disincentive is no reason to ignore human rights. I’ll post my paper on the CPJ website as soon as it’s finalized.

One of the overarching themes of the conference was the current economic crisis. There was a sense that the economic crisis calls for bold solutions, which could lead to greater openness to basic income. But there was also a sense of urgency, that basic income is necessary to respond to the major crises of our time, economic and environmental.

Stanley Aronowitz, in particular, argued that we can’t expect to return to full employment. Moving forward, we will have to find ways to structure our economy differently.

Another theme was the need to bring basic income out of our circle and into the political and public mainstream. Hugh Segal spoke of the need to stop “preaching to the choir,” while Tony Martin referred to Martin Luther King, Jr., arguing that we need to change the wind – the political context in which basic income is addressed.

The conference provided good food for thought, as well as many good contacts. I’ll be blogging more on some of the topics that came up over the next few weeks.