Austria will vote on basic income

The Austrians are allowed to submit in this week's your vote for an unconditional basic income. Since yesterday Monday, and still to 25. November request, the registration period for a nation. The initiators request that every Austrian state, to be paid to citizens over 18 years of age at each month in the beginning of 1200 Euro.

signed the petition online or in any municipal office can be. If it is supported by at least 100’000 Voters, must address the Parliament. However, a mere debate ranges, a corresponding draft law does not follow from it.

Behind the Austrian people's desire neither parties nor other larger organisations, but a single Initiator, holds in the Public eye yet extremely covered. His Name: Peter Hofer. In the daily newspaper "der Standard", he said, this was a "spontaneous action". He had originally written to only fifty persons by Mail, with the request to support and further dissemination. At the end of it almost 15’000 have become signatures. In Austria, 8401 rich signatures for the introduction of a popular initiative, this corresponds to a per Mille of the population.

it is Funded through a financial transaction tax

The required level of unconditional basic income of 1200 euros, is just over the Austria-calculated poverty line. The payout Would all citizens "to live in freedom and self-determination" will allow, according to the official justification for the referendum, which was published on the Website of the Ministry of interior. So each person had "the ability to be free from existential worries to take on the work that he himself thinks is reasonable". (Now read the Interview with the philosopher Philip Kovce, connoisseurs and advocates of a basic income.) Everyone would have an income, "even if he is released by the automation and rationalization in production and management of the work".

As one of the "richest countries on this planet" could Austria provide the unconditional basic income. Financed the payments "on a financial transaction tax in the amount of 0.94 percent of all in Austria, financial transactions should be", it is said in the explanatory Memorandum. However, in the funding of the term question of the festivities a mess.

On the initiator Hofer Website is instead of a financial transaction tax, a "solidarity contribution of 0.94 percent," the speech. "Each participant paid, if she/he spends in some Form of money." Thus, not only the unconditional basic income is then "loosely affordable, but it is also a lot of money for very useful things left (education, health, infrastructure, etc.), for the benefit of the General public".

Only 23 percent of Swiss were in favour of

The unconditional basic income has been discussed for a long time in the world. Advocates are found not only in left circles, but sometimes also economic liberals, the removal of a possible red tape in the social system and therefore a lean state references. In Italy, the condition had been propagated, basic income from the five star movement in Finland and the Netherlands, there has been a first field trials. (Click here to read about the field trial in Finland, and why he was canceled.)

In Switzerland had failed 2016 a referendum on the introduction of an unconditional basic income of 2500 Swiss francs. Only 23 percent of the voting population had voted there for it.

"If the referendum receives a Million declarations of support, I will continue to do."Peter Hofer, the author of the popular initiative

Also in Austria, the current people desire the first starting in this thing. 2017 is already a club called Generation basic income was started, the wanted to put the topic into the public focus. The aim was to collect via Crowdfunding half a Million euros in order to Finance a scientific study, to hold a Congress, and to Finance further campaigns. It's money not came together, but not nearly enough.

The club's President, Helmo Pape called in the Standard the current request for a referendum "a step in the right direction". He warned, however, that only the Austrian state are to benefit citizens, and not all people living in Austria from the unconditional basic income. The initiator, Peter Hofer pointed out that the Initiative was started to have been times of the ÖVP-FPÖ government, with the inclusion of foreigners would not be quite surely have been possible. In the long term, a worldwide basic income before suspended him anyway.

The bar for a success of his Initiative has placed a Hofer even very high. "If the people of a Million support request receives declarations, I will continue to do," he said. "Otherwise, I'll let it be."

read now our Overview of the places where the unconditional basic income is already being tested – you might be surprised.

Created: 19.11.2019, 11:21 PM