Universal Basic Income - Finland

Money for everyone in Finland.

This is a great example of going universally granular in a country.

"Pack a heavy coat, folks, we’re going to Finland. The Finnish Social Insurance Institution, also known as Kela, has begun work on a proposal that would guarantee a basic income to every citizen of the small Nordic nation. This system of a universal state-facilitated payment delivered to every Finnish person would transform the state’s welfare system and potentially provide a blueprint for other countries looking to build a different kind of economy."

It is a surefire way to get every citizen in the country to sign up and be registered to receive the monthly payment....or not if they do not register and therefore not assigned a unique "citizen identifier" and related account to which the monthly payment goes.

Perhaps registration of every citizen must be required.  Choice to receive $801 (US equivalent) is up to the citizen.  Free choice is a fine thing.  Those that do not choose the payment should probably be investigated!

What is the model here?

Social Security for everyone?

Paying for it?

Reduce inefficiencies (self serving extraction) in the Government, Financial (FIRE) and Medical systems through a system Information Engineering restructure.

Start at the bottom with the thing that ties it all together: Currency.

Currency is the universal decision making tool.  Economics is what the tool is used to do.

In a free society how free are people to make whatever decisions they wish to make with their money.

How free are institutions to make whatever decisions they wish to make with our money?

The Finns will receive $801 per month with which to make their spending decisions.  What mandatory spending strings might come with that?  What sanctions may be applied if not spent in accordance with the strings?  What assurances are there that the payment would be applied to the basic needs of life to assure the basic quality of life for all citizens.

The idea has great appeal.  It probably also has the potential for a great amount of government control over exactly what it can be spent on. Money with strings attached is to a certain extent a good thing when a person is irresponsible in making decisions about how it is spent.

We have those controls applied to some government payments to citizens in the US for certain reasons.  If everyone received a basic income then what universal strings and sanctions would be attached?

Good social governance questions.

Government becomes the custodian of the citizen responsible for general as well as granular well being of  each citizen (every single individual citizen).  Government responsibility to assure that each citizen is managed for their own well being if they cannot manage their own affairs to some requirement standard?

Freedom of choice:  Freedom not to accept the government Basic Income Payment.  Freedom to live off the grid.

Perhaps there should be a penalty payment required from those that choose not to accept the Basic Income payment.  An interesting governance model........Pay a penalty for not accepting what is offered.  It makes sure that everyone has a strong inducement to participate.

Carrot and Stick governance.

I like the Finland approach to do it in one city as a test and watch the result.  The problem is that the result would be strongly influenced by the fact that it was a test that would end.  Younger people receiving the payment could not depend on it in the long term and would therefore not be likely to make life style decisions that the security of a monthly payment for life might otherwise support. 

In the US we already have a Basic Income.  Social Security.  It is however generally for those that have worked.