alternative futures: what to do with a ubi (part 7)

continued from (part 6)

tyne’s journal cont’d

what i was really wondering was how they had done it and what was going to be said about it.

when the city agreed to pilot a universal basic income, most of the energy came from boston trying to keep up. after ontario, detroit, helsinki, and san francisco began pilots, boston still wanted to be in the early adopter group. now, ten years later, the government has been pushed to a tipping point. this year’s annual debate will be on whether or not it’s legal for what has happened to happen: the pooling of incomes for political action.

i was still in medical school, preparing for my boards, when the ubi program started. i honestly didn’t think it would ever affect me. i was eligible for it but it didn’t feel right to take it. given my earning potential, it seemed strange to take extra money from the government. in hindsight, i wonder what would’ve happened if i had thought about it differently and changed career paths… but who am i kidding? i was always going to be a doctor. that path dependence was stronger than my will.

notes (not part of this piece): [this = poor folks pooling their ubi’s, individual rich folks keeping them separate, poor folks creating power and taking over 2/3 branches of govt]

[coming up soon begin the annual tri-branch discussion]

words / writing / post-processing
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