Mapping out Pragmatic Guaranteed Income Architecture & Finding a Path Toward Social Justice and Environmental Sus

1. Mapping out Pragmatic Guaranteed Income Architecture & Finding a Path Toward Social Justice and Environmental Sustainability James P. Mulvale, PhD, RSW Associate Professor, Faculty of Social Work University of Regina Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2 CANADA jim.mulvale@uregina.ca

2. BI in one country – the “architecture” idea The Canadian example:buildingfrom what we already have: • Children’s benefits • Benefits for working age adults • Public pensions for seniors

3. BI in one country – the “architecture” idea (cont’d) Joining these elements together, in an incremental but strategic way, towards a coherent and solid structure of economic security Maybe there will be the occasional ‘big bang’ (?) – like the establishment of public health insurance in Canada in the 1960s e.g. current proposal of Senator Hugh Segal for a NIT version of guaranteed income

4. The ecological rationale for a UBI This rationale needs to assume an increasingly prominent role in our arguments for BI and other forms of unconditional cash transfer Guaranteed economic security (UBI) andsteady state economic management are two key ingredients in the recipe for a sustainable society embedded in a healthy environment

5. What would steady state economics mean? • would notmean the end of the market economy nor the suspension of all profits or economic incentives • wouldnot mean no-growth across all sectors • wouldmean a fundamental rearrangement of the ways in which gov’ts raise revenue and spend this money • wouldmean a planned market economy (with gov’t / citizens / environmental advocates at table, and with environmental sustainability and distributive justice as the guiding principles) • wouldmean dramatic changes in patterns of extraction, manufacturing, distribution, and consumption

6. National commitments and broad international agreements needed on: • Goods and services sectors to be developed and grown: • expansion of renewable power sources (solar, hydro) • manufacturing of green technologies • local and organic food production and distribution • public education for knowledge and skills and for active citizenship • (holistic and preventative) health care in the public and not-for-profit sectors

7. Goods and services sectors to be developed and grown (cont’d): • social services to support adaptable and ecologically benign life choices and behaviours • Re-thinking conventional social work models of practice such as systems theory and person-in-environment • information services serving social ends • recycling of waste material • manufacturing public transit vehicle • extension and improvement of public infrastructure

8. National commitments and broad international agreements needed on: • goods and services sectors for contraction and eventual termination, such as • cultural and leisure industries with large ecological footprint • manufacture of readily disposable, non-useful, or environmentally harmful commodities • manufacturing private automobiles (especially energy inefficient ones) • construction of extravagant and wasteful entities (e.g. monster homes on large lots that are far away from municipal services)

9. (Mostly national and sub-national) public policy instruments to shape green economic goals: • high consumption taxes on unnecessary, wasteful and luxury goods • high and truly progressive marginal tax rate on very high incomes • carbon and other green taxes on consumption of non-renewable resources • cap and trade system regulating emissions among countries and corporations • provision of good public services as alternative to privatized and ecologically destructive consumer and lifestyle choices , e.g. • public water supply as opposed to commodified water • local green space and cultural activities to stem weekend outflow to cottage country • rigourouscriminal and civil prosecution of ‘hard case’ environmental offenders

10. Need for international mechanisms to: • raise funds from global financial elite for unconditional cash transfer (e.g. through FTT), which may take different forms in different countries, depending on national / regional priorities • set and enforce regional / global environmental regulations • ensure developmental goals are met in collaboration with poorer countries • monitor and sanction self-interested and predatory behaviour on the part of MNCs

11. Necessity of international ground rule to achieve steady state management on a global basis • role of int’l agencies such as WB / IMF / WTO / ILO / UNHCHR • our poor track record in reaching and implementing international accords (e.g. Copenhagen meeting and Kyoto accord re: environment

12. Overall goals in such an approach: • maintaining minimum standards of living and conditions of life for all (consistent with UDHR, ICESCR, and other UN covenants and conventions) • de-commodifyinglabour– that will benefit most vulnerable workers most re: individual and collective bargaining power • de-linking expansion of welfare provision from economic growth

13. The 3 Grand Strategies: • stopping the insanity ensuring a habitable planet for our great-grandchildren, not to mention all of the other species and the eco-systems upon which we all depend

14. The 3 Grand Strategies: • connecting the dots steady –state economy universal economic security founded on economic redistribution ethic

15. The 3 Grand Strategies: • mapping the future fiscally practical and politically sustainable mechanism(s) for • funding and delivering a UBI as an essential element of a just and sustainable society • Preserving the eco-system for future generations

16. Pragmatics of getting from here to there • engaging in public education • garnering political support • shaping media discourse • managing / confronting dissent among the hegemonic classes • ensuring effective administrative mechanisms