Monday, July 10, 1pm
Quinta Loreto Hotel Tv Room, Loreto 15
Free

Universal Basic Income, Occupy SMA - film

Unlike the Industrial Revolution and the computer revolution, the Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) revolution is not taking certain jobs and replacing them with other jobs. Instead, A.I. is poised to bring about a massive disruption in jobs - mostly lower-paying jobs, but many higher-paying ones, too. Bank tellers, customer service representatives, retail clerks, telemarketers, stock and bond traders, even paralegals and radiologists will gradually be replaced by such software. Futurists see the USA gaining 15 million jobs in the near future - at the same time, losing 25 million jobs. Much of this will be caused by increased globalization, outsourcing, artificial intelligence, accelerating technology, stagnant wages and robots.

Over time this technology will come to control semi-autonomous and autonomous hardware like self-driving cars and robots, displacing factory workers, construction workers, drivers, delivery workers and many others. Self-driving trucks  will replace 7 million drivers - the largest job in over 25 states. 80,000 retail clerks have lost their jobs since October (NYT).  Jobs are not coming back.

43 million americans live in poverty. 50% of American workers make less than $15 an hour. Only 34% feel financially secure and fifty-seven percent of Americans admit that they don't have enough cash to cover a $500 unexpected expense. In a recent column in The New York Times, the conservative David Brooks wrote: "There is a structural flaw in modern capitalism. Tremendous income gains are going to those in the top 20 percent, but prospects are diminishing for those in the middle and working classes. This gigantic trend widens inequality, exacerbates social segmentation, fuels distrust and led to Donald Trump."
Monday, OccupySMA will begin to look at universal basic income grants - just giving everyone cash. Excerpts of such radical concepts have been put in practice across the globe, with the launch of a pilot in Kenya, results from India, a coalition in Namibia, an experiment in Finland, a pilot in  Canada and the redistribution of dividends from natural resources in Alaska.

Historian Rutger Bregman - in laying out his provocative case for a guaranteed basic income -  says: "Things can be different. There is nothing inevitable about the way we structure our society and our economy... It is abundantly clear that we can not stick to the status quo. We need new ideas. Many are pessimistic about a future of rising inequality, xenophobia and climate change. However, it is not enough to know what we are against...We need to be for something.I believe in a future where the value of your work is not determined by the size of your pay check; but by the amount of happiness you have and the amount of meaning you give. I believe in a future where the point of education is not to prepare you for another useless job but for a life well lived. I believe in a future where a life without poverty is not a privilege but a right that we all deserve."
Join us Monday for a lively discussion. Our events are free.