Basic Income Blues June 2017

Inspired by the North American Basic Income
Guarantee Congress NYC JUNE 2017

I’ve got the Basic Income Blues….
Because in my heart
         I believe all need to feel secure,
                  to have enough to eat, to live, just to be,
Because in my soul, (whatever that is),
         I feel that BIG is a chance to live with hope, able to “speak our own truths” —
without so much fear of poverty, violence, homelessness, and distain.
Because, in my head,
         I know it’s possible —we can get a BIG, IF we
work together, led by those who need it most,
Stay deeply generous, not tight, in our vision,
Not fearing failure if we don’t get it right the first time.
As Brandy sings, I want a Basic Income “Because I’m Alive.”

 I’ve got the Basic Income Blues….
But now I worry,
         because people with money, high tech status, and so much certainty,
         have “discovered” BIG, want to promote it, to design it,
                  to “own” the brand.
         Already, with hope for funding, the rest of us are obligated:
                  Obligated to please them,
                           obligated to “align with their values,”
                                    to place them in front of the cameras,
                                             to keep criticisms internal and “civil.”
         Because we can’t lose their money

SO I’ve got the blues…
         I’ve seen it happen before.
         Seen radical movements, lose themselves in the quest for what’s possible, what’s
         winnable, for what’s fundable, for what seems to work,
                  but doesn’t.
Who’s most hurt then?
         Not the founders, not those who explain it, study it,
                  not the white professionals who discover BIG and “like the idea,”
Rather, the people most hurt are those who absolutely need a Basic Income, now:
         The precariat — our “new dangerous class,”
         People of color, immigrants, those less abled,
         People who hope a BI will change their present and their futures.
                  who want it for themselves, their families, and their communities,
                           who gain strength from imagining it, from working for it,
                                    and who will be most dispirited if we fail…
Let’s not go there…
Those who know poverty, up close and personal, must lead, not just advise,
                  head the table, not just be at it, when decisions are made,
                           when tactics and strategies are determined
                                    when the vision and goals are expanded
         Otherwise, only the form will remain, while the spirit passes away

And that’s a reason to sing the blues

PS I’ve got more to say in a discussion about what’s next for NABIG, about how to proceed, how to organize ourselves, and where we should not go. But that’s for later, based on collective responses to the Congress. But for now, I needed to send this out to my broader world,

THANKS for listening, and responding.

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