Like the community centers in Vancouver Canada, a guaranteed basic income can bring about public spirit and social cohesion cushioning youth, seniors and long-term unemployed facing brutal capitalism.

".. basic-income advocates argue that the duty to pursue work is based on the mistaken assumption that there’s work to be had. A growing number of economists suggest that Germany reconcile itself to the fact that in the postindustrial age, the country will provide ever fewer opportunities for low-skilled workers. In this context, policies in pursuit of full employment make no sense; indeed, the demands currently made on the out-of-work are nothing less than perverse. If the long-term unemployed have no meaningful chance to advance a career, what purpose does it serve for the state to monitor and control their activities?

Furthermore, the advocates of basic income say, the contemporary mind-set has allotted to salaried work an exaggerated role in shaping personal identity. Basic income would allow Germans to combine different avenues of part-time work or pursue types of labor that aren’t normally honored with pay, such as caring for the elderly."

to read the article published in: www.city-journal.org, click on
http://www.city-journal.org/2010/20_2_snd-basic-income.html

More articles are available at www.freembtranslations.com, www.basicincome.org and www.grundeinkommen.de.