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title: "Timeline photos Progressives often express support for a Universal…"
date: 2023-12-27
source: facebook
type: Archer T. Ships added a new photo.
---

# Timeline photos Progressives often express support for a Universal…

*December 27, 2023 · Facebook*

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![](img/2023-12-27-fb-004-img01.webp){style="max-width:100%; margin:1em 0"}
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Progressives often express support for a Universal Basic Income, i.e. a monthly stipend provided to everyone by the government.\
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However, there\'s no reason that UBI supporters must wait for the government to implement a UBI. If this Pew survey is correct, then \~148 million (45%) of the US population favor a UBI (a population roughly equivalent to the population of Japan). (1)\
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If the Japanese government could provide a UBI to its citizens, then an equivalent sized population should be able to provide a UBI to each other. No need to involve the people who don\'t want to participate.\
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People who support a UBI could sign contracts with each other enforcing the donation of a percentage of their income for the rest of their lives. The donated money could then be redistributed equally among all the participants.\
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The German charity Mein Grundeinkommen (My Basic Income) has been running a voluntary basic income program since 2014:\
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[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mein_Grundeinkommen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mein_Grundeinkommen){target="_blank"}\
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You don\'t even have to be a German citizen to participate:\
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[https://www.mein-grundeinkommen.de/infos/in-english](https://www.mein-grundeinkommen.de/infos/in-english){target="_blank"}\
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Perhaps Free Staters should start a voluntary \"My Basic Income\" for New Hampshire? Let\'s call the non-profit organizing such a VBI the \"Porcupine VBI\" (PVBI).\
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I\'d do a survey first, and get people to publicly sign a petition to express their support for a government UBI. If the same proportion of New Hampshire citizens support a UBI as the national population, that\'s \~615 K people.\
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Then I\'d follow up with them to sign a contract with the PVBI, committing them to donate 10% of their gross monthly income to the PVBI capital pool. The 10% number was chosen as it is the amount that Christians are commonly enjoined to donate to their churches. Since the PVBI would presumably reduce welfare use, make it partially tax deductible.\
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To provide a \$1000/month VBI to 615 K people would require \$615 M per month, or \$7.4 billion per year. To generate \$7.4 billion/year in perpetuity would require \$185 billion in investment capital (assuming a 4% real rate of return).\
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NH has a median per capita income of about \~\$50 K/year. 10% of that is \$5 K/person, so 615 K people would generate \~\$3.1 billion per year. Let\'s round down to \$3 billion. \$3 billion would generate \$120 million/year in perpetuity. Therefore, every year, the PVBI could provide \$12 K/year in perpetuity to an additional 10 K individuals.\
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At this rate, it would take the PVBI \~62 years to provide a VBI in perpetuity for every participant. At that point, assuming that the 4% real rate of return continues to hold true, no additional funds would be required to provide a VBI for the original 615 K members. Indeed, they could pass on their VBI to their descendants after they die.\
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No coercion required. Everyone who wants a VBI gets a VBI.\
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The PVBI could provide a rejoinder to those who claim that Porcupines don\'t care about the poor. If it becomes popular, Free Staters could even pitch it as a replacement for the NH welfare system. Perhaps the recipients could be selected at random from the most impoverished of the PVBI members.\
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Of course, these are just ballpark figures. The number of VBI supporters who would actually follow through is likely much lower, the amount people would actually agree to give is probably much less, etc.\
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But it would be fun to try! Put up a leaderboard so that people could see who the most generous donors are. It would be fun to ask progressive supporters of a UBI how much they\'ve donated to the PVBI.\
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#pvbi\
#voluntarybasicincome\
#basicincome\
#ubi\
#vbi\
#fsp\
#freestateproject\
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1. [https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/08/19/more-americans-oppose-than-favor-the-government-providing-a-universal-basic-income-for-all-adult-citizens/](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/08/19/more-americans-oppose-than-favor-the-government-providing-a-universal-basic-income-for-all-adult-citizens/){target="_blank"}
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