If we assume the best in people, we can radically redesign our democracy and welfare states.
Rutger BregmanRead
I think one of the most important facts of basic income would be that it's not only a redistribution of income, but also of power. So the cleaners and bin men would have a lot more bargaining power.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Basic income redistributes wealth and empowers workers.
Rutger Bregman emphasizes that basic income is not merely about providing people with a financial safety net; it also serves to redistribute power dynamics within society. By ensuring that individuals, particularly those in lower-paying jobs like cleaners and waste collectors, receive a basic income, it enhances their ability to negotiate better wages and working conditions, fundamentally altering the balance of power in the labor market.
Themes
Basic IncomePowerRedistributionWorkersBargaining Power
In practice
Example use cases
During a community meeting discussing economic reforms, one could reference this quote to highlight the importance of empowering workers.
More from Rutger Bregman
All quotes →Since long workdays lead to more errors, shorter workdays could reduce accidents. Overtime is deadly. Tired surgeons have been found to be more prone to slip'ups, and soldiers who get too little shuteye are more prone to miss targets.
Rutger BregmanRead
My hope is that the corona crisis will help bring us into a new age of cooperation and solidarity and a realization that we're in this together.
Rutger BregmanRead
This is what a crisis does: It makes you question the status quo. That doesn't mean that after a crisis we move into some kind of utopia. But it is an opportunity for political change.
Rutger BregmanRead
While it won't solve all the world's ills - and ideas such as a rent cap and more social housing are necessary in places where housing is scarce - a basic income would work like venture capital for the people.
Rutger BregmanRead
Believing in the good of humanity is a revolutionary act - it means that we don't need all those managers and CEO's, kings and generals. That we can trust people to govern themselves and make their own decisions.
Rutger BregmanRead
Similar quotes
Speculation is only a word covering the making of money out of the manipulation of prices, instead of supplying goods and services.
Henry FordRead
Debt is a social and ideological construct, not a simple economic fact.
Noam ChomskyRead
Four things have almost invariably followed the imposition of controls to keep prices below the level they would reach under supply and demand in a free market: (1) increased use of the product or service whose price is controlled, (2) Reduced supply of the same product or service, (3) quality deterioration, (4) black markets.
Thomas SowellRead
I think there's a lot of merit in an international economy and global markets, but they're not sufficient because markets don't look after social needs.
George SorosRead
An economy hampered by restrictive tax rates will never produce enough jobs or enough profits
John F. KennedyRead
Credit is a promise to deliver money. It will produce GDP but you'll create credit... So you reach a certain point that that you can't do that anymore... There are choices. And how do we best support, apportion the money? How much is going to be transferred?
Ray DalioRead