Redefining “Work”
About the income part of work
Summary - Work provides us with income and purpose. But why do we cling to outdated beliefs of “work”, with most of us feeling unsatisfied by our jobs? It is proposed to instate a Universal Basic Income (UBI) to provide everyone with the basic freedom of a guaranteed basic income.
“What would you do if you won the lottery and never have to work again?”
This question seems simple enough. For most people it conjures up images of bounty-like beaches, the freedom to travel where you want and sleeping-in forever. It is probably one of the most favorite questions you would ask as a child. It gave you a reason to dream.
Despite its simplicity, it strikes me that this question is so difficult to answer. Most people start to wonder: what would I do if I have all that time off? Would I continue doing my current job? What else could I do? What would my reason be to get out of bed in the morning? Do I really like laying on the beach for the rest of my life?
I find it hard to grasp that most of us do not really think about why we work. The reason seems obvious: we work to provide income for ourselves and our families. Then again, there are plenty of us who have more than enough and still work 80 hours a week. Why? Isn’t it enough at some point?
I believe that “we” have our priorities wrong. I believe we need to redefine what “work” means, think about the things in life that really add value and rethink why we “work” in the first place. We can all experience unparalleled levels of freedom in life and fully focus on the pursuit of happiness. All we need to do is change the way we think about working and adding value.
Work = income and purpose?
Why do we work? For most of us, the answer is quite simple. For moneys. To bring home the bacon. The more, the merrier. We work to provide for ourselves and our families. This can only be part of the reason however. Take away someones job, and you take away his livelihood. Imagine the following.
You get fired.
Even if you get provided with a healthy severance pay package that makes sure you do not have to worry about your income for years, you probably feel… rejected. As if you are not worthy. Unless you are deeply miserable about your job, you probably lose a sense of purpose. What will you do when you get up the next morning? What will you do when the next day, when the world around you is “busy” but you are not anymore? I have seen strong, confident people become doubtful and even depressed because they got fired.
Work is more than simply providing an income. For most people, work becomes part of your identity. We define ourselves by our jobs. It provides a purpose. I believe both these aspects - income and purpose - need to be redefined in today’s society. Let’s start with the “easy” one: income.
Free money for everyone
There is an easy method to provide a steady income for everyone: give everyone a monthly allowance. This is called a a Universal Basic Income (UBI). A universal basic income is simply a periodic payment delivered to each individual, no questions asked. It would be unconditional, automatic and would be a right for everyone in society. Think of it as having a pension income, but instead of having to be roughly 65 years old, you receive a monthly allowance starting the day you are born.
The idea is not a new concept and I certainly did not come up with it. In fact, you might argue that there was something like a universal basic income in ancient Rome. There was a time when every Roman citizen had the right to receive an amount of bread and circus entertainment just because of being a roman citizen.
In more recent times, entrepreneur and 2020 Democratic candidate Andrew Yang has advocated for a basic income to counter job displacement through automation. His basic income policy, the Freedom Dividend, aims to give every American adult $1,000 a month.
Fun fact: the U.S. was very close to implementing a universal basic income during the Nixon presidency. It did not come to pass however because of several reasons. One the reasons was the belief that more people would have a divorce while on basic income. This was in fact not the case. On the contrary: I have actually read that this was a statistical error and people had happier marriages due to universal basic income (though I cannot seem to find that source anymore). Talk about statistical errors impacting policy decision.
Why should we implement a universal basic income?
There are many different rational and sensible reasons for implementing a universal basic income from a variety of viewpoints:
Some proponents have argued that basic income can increase economic growth because it would sustain people while they invest in education to get interesting and well-paid jobs.
Concerns about automation have prompted many to argue for basic income. Many technologists believe that automation, among other things, is creating technological unemployment. With a rising unemployment rate, poor communities would become more impoverished worldwide. Proponents therefore argue that it could solve many world problems like high work stress and could create more opportunities and efficient and effective work.
The most valid argument for universal basic income to me however, is that it would create real freedom. The freedom to do whatever one “might want to do”. It will provide so many of us, struggling to make ends meet, with a freedom to pursue the things in life that provide meaning to us. This can range from arts, poetry, helping those in need or simply sitting behind a desk from 9 till 5. You will have full control over your life.
So why are we not already implementing a universal basic income?
What first comes to mind would be the costs of it. Who is going to pay for this? Is it not way too expensive? Let us have a look at an example. Economist and philosopher Karl Widerquist has shown that to fund a UBI of $12,000 per adult and $6,000 per child every year (while keeping all other spending the same) the US would have to raise an additional $539 billion a year—less than 3% of its GDP (source). To put this in perspective, the Iraq war cost about $2500 billion, or about $357 billion per year. It would seem from these examples that costs are not the issue for a developed country.
The reason I personally believe we do not want to institute a universal basic income is ideological. Deep down, most of us believe you have to work to earn money.
You need to work for money, you do not earn it. Unless you are rich of course
It is a deep, festering belief most of us cling to. The belief that you are not entitled to money if you have not worked for it. I realized I believed this too until I read this article in the Correspondent (Dutch). Only a simple argument made me realize the fallacy of this argument:
Suppose you believe one has to work for money. Would you then not accept a family inheritance if you are given $1.000.000?
Most of us believe you have to earn your money. Somehow this is not the case if you receive an inheritance from your family. Then not working for money is suddenly ok. Your family worked for it, right?
I consider universal basic income as an inheritance from a bigger family: our ancestors. Our forefathers and foremothers who have worked and toiled hard for hundreds to thousands of years to make the world better for their children: us. It is now time for us to reap the benefits they have sawed. Universal basic income is a society-wide retirement scheme that our ancestors have worked hard for. Every one of us earns it.
What about purpose
Generating a universal basic income is an issue that I believe can be solved. It requires a paradigm shift on how we think about earning money, but it can be done. We have done these kinds of things before.
What is harder, is to provide people with a renewed identity and purpose once their regular “work” becomes obsolete. Most of us have no clue what to do when we have all the spare time in the world. A new way of looking at our lives in which we do not have to work is required.
Circling back to the starting question: “What would you do if you won the lottery and never have to work again?” This is a much tougher cookie to crack. Providing an answer will require us to think differently about work, purpose, and what we do in life. I believe that for this, we need to create a new ideology.
I also believe that I would need to create a whole new article to describe it, as that would be too lengthy to add to this article. If you are reading this and also believe we need a new way of thinking about how we perceive our purpose in life and how we work together, let me know in the comments below. I will include it in my own vision of the future.
Personal note
Firstly, I wanted to say that I tried to keep the article brief. I intended to put out a few questions which I came up with while on holiday (which I have listed below). Keeping it brief did not work. In the end I wanted to tell so much more even than I have now. It is such a deep, philosophical discussion that I ended up saying much more than I wanted to initially. So even though this might not be the last of it, next time I should stick to my personal rule of “less is more”.
Secondly, I have no illusions that the target audience for this article is mostly middle class. People who do not have to worry too much about income, but are more focused towards purpose. People who might long for something “more”. If you are in a daily struggle to provide income for you or your family, this article might seem nuts. My only hope is that it would serve as just another article that favors a most sensible idea: the universal basic income.
Questions while on holiday
Why is the prospect of never having to work again so frightening for so many people? Why are most of us working more, but earning less than in the 1960s? Why is being a mother considered hard “work”, adding immeasurable value to society, but you do not get paid for it?
Why do people work the whole year, to “look forward to” a holiday for 2 weeks, but have no idea what to do when they never have to work again? Are we afraid of doing nothing? Are we afraid of ourselves?
Addendum
October 2020
During the pandemic, interest in a universal basic income has dramatically increased. As millions of people around the world are losing their jobs and livelihood, a guaranteed monthly income seems all the more sensible now. Providing security and economic freedom is exactly what people need at the moment, as opposed to nonsensical stimulus packages to companies that never trickle down to those who need it. Not only has Spain started the largest experiment with 850,000 households, South-Korea has recently started a very particular experiment that focuses on local benefits. In the Korean UBI-scheme, people who received the monthly benefits can only spent it within their region. In my opinion a smart way to ensure money is spent in the real and local economy, though it infringes slightly on the freedom-side of a universal basic income. Nonetheless, these experiments indicate the popularity of a basic income around the world has never been higher.
To stimulate its pandemic-hit economy, a province in South Korea has been experimenting with universal basic income programs by regularly giving out cash, no questions asked. Now, some politicians want to go national with the concept.