In episode two of More Than Enough — The Nation’s four-part podcast mini-series, the concept of Universal Basic Income is looked at. Our current poverty alleviation programs just aren’t working the way they should. Is there a better way?
Guaranteed Income, or Universal Basic Income, has caused a flurry of media coverage in the past year. But what is it, exactly? From The Nation and host Mia Birdsong, More Than Enough is a four-episode podcast mini-series that explores the concept of UBI through conversations with the experts — people experiencing economic injustice and the advocates working to end it.
“If you’ve never been poor, you don’t know how soul-crushingly hard it is to always be struggling to make ends meet,” said Birdsong. “The grinding challenge of not knowing how you are going to pay for this bill or that fee takes a real toll. But on top of that, our current poverty alleviation programs — things like food stamps, welfare payments, disability assistance — come with real strings attached. We make people in poverty jump through more hoops to get some measly assistance than people who haven’t experienced poverty can even fathom. And the dirty secret of all that busywork we set up for people struggling to make ends meet? Our poverty alleviation programs just aren’t working in the way they should.”
