212 Matching Annotations
  1. Apr 2018
    1. Mr. Collins was only a clergyman

      Being a clergymen as a living meant a guaranteed income and home for the lifetime of the clergyman lucky enough to be appointed to one. Since the incumbent did not receive a wage or sully his hands with works per se, it was considered a gentlemanly profession and many younger sons of gentlemen pursued the church as their career."

      (Grace, Maria. Vicars, Curates, and Church Livings. Random Bits of Fascination. Web.)

  2. Oct 2017
    1. A Pew Research Center analysis of IRS data from 2015, the most recent available, shows that taxpayers with incomes of $200,000 or more paid well over half (58.8%) of federal income taxes,

      This data is "old". This also show how much leverage those tax payers have, their income tax can pay one or more teachers.

  3. Sep 2017
    1. “We know that poverty is a major driver of ill-health. We also know that poor people trust doctors. It’s a free service. Many other services they won’t access because they worry about the cost,” said Prosper Canada CEO Liz Mulholland.

      If only this was an issue in the USA, where going to a doctor is not a free service for the patient, in most cases. The same level of trust is not there; this is unacceptable/

    1. Part of the wild success of the Silicon Valley giants of today — and what makes their stocks so appealing to investors — has come from their ability to attain huge revenue and profits with relatively few workers.Apple, Alphabet (parent of Google) and Facebook generated $333 billion of revenue combined last year with 205,000 employees worldwide. In 1993, three of the most successful, technologically oriented companies based in the Northeast — Kodak, IBM and AT&T — needed more than three times as many employees, 675,000, to generate 27 percent less in inflation-adjusted revenue.The 10 most valuable tech companies have 1.5 million employees, according to calculations by Michael Mandel of the Progressive Policy Institute, compared with 2.2 million employed by the 10 biggest industrial companies in 1979. Mr. Mandel, however, notes that today’s tech industry is adding jobs much faster than the industrial companies, which took many decades to reach that scale.

      It seems like this would certainly contribute to wealth inequality, since the majority of today's tech workforce is more well-educated than the industrial employees of decades past (who then shared in their employer's rise).

  4. Aug 2017
    1. However, we are willing to work with you on what's really bothering you if you stop behaving like Subhuman sacks of dog shit. Let's fight the influence of big business and Electoral Corruption together. Let's get Universal Basic Income done so not just you, but every American is always secure. Let's end the pointless wars. Let's revitalize and stimulate our inner cities

      Voters have been known throughout history, most recently in 2016, to vote against their own interests for reasons that are, frankly, stupid.

    1. At the core of human rights are the ideals and goals of the “four freedoms” articulated by US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt—freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from fear, and freedom from want—and also the primary goal of self-determination. To achieve these conditions, it is also understood that while all rights are “interrelated, interdependent and indivisible,” the absolute basics of life (e.g., water, food, clothing, and shelter) must first be met.

      Canada gets it. The US does not. This must change and quickly.

  5. Jun 2017
    1. Characteristics of a full basic income9.In its comprehensive and ideal form, a basic income is explicitly designed to challenge most of the key assumptions underpinning existing social security systems. Rather than a system where there are partial payments, basic income guarantees a floor; instead of being episodic, payments are regular; rather than being needs-based, they arepaid as a flat rate to all; they come in cash, rather than as messy in-kind support; they accrue to every individual, rather than only to needy households; rather than requiring that various conditions be met, they are unconditional; rather than excludingthe well off, they are universal; and instead of being based on lifetime contributions, they are funded primarily from taxation. And simplicity of design promises minimal bureaucracy and low administrative costs.

      This is from a group that has thought this concept through, something US politicians do not seem to be capable of.

  6. May 2017
    1. Today, it would be hard to imagine the world without Wikipedia or Linux, and, yet, society has not recognized those as economic contributions.

      As a person who loves Microsoft, but uses open-source software including the ones mentioned, the ability to be rewarded for doing the right thing is an universal appeal.

  7. Mar 2017
    1. PacificGrove.Directory is a private online project by Holger Hubbs (www.101done.com). With your help, inspiration and support it is turning into a simple and heartfelt portal to discover, connect and share right where we live.
  8. Jun 2016
    1. Nowhere are there as many bullshit jobs, however, as in Silicon Valley. A survey of 5,000 software developers and engineers last year found that, in the words of The Economist, “many of them feel alienated, trapped, underappreciated and otherwise discombobulated.” Only 19% of tech employees say they are satisfied with their jobs. A mere 17% feel valued. Or, as a former math whiz working at Facebook lamented a few years ago: “The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads.”
  9. Apr 2016
    1. The Finnish government is currently drawing up plans to introduce a national basic income. A final proposal won’t be presented until November 2016, but if all goes to schedule, Finland will scrap all existing benefits and instead hand out €800 ($870) per month—to everyone.
  10. Dec 2015
    1. As an idea, it also circulated within national and local concerns regarding municipaland federal obligations toward low-income citizens.

      Citizens or the federal government felt like more needed to be done? I would appreciate clarification on this point.