Scratchin' Out A Little Living

When the COVID-19 pandemic surged in the spring of 2020, and we all accepted the reality of how lethal this virus was, non-essential workers were mandated to leave job sites and work from home if possible. Businesses shuttered and many never recovered. The government made a decision to send many Americans stimulus checks to avert an economic crisis of nonspending due to loss of income. In March of 2020, $1200 went out to income-qualified Americans. In December of the same year, another $600 went out, and then in March of 2021 a $1400 stimulus check was given to eligible folks. According to the GAO (Government Accountability Office), about 165 million Americans received stimulus checks. That means roughly half the country was eligible for a stimulus check. Solo adults with incomes below $75K a year or couples with incomes below $150K were eligible. Half the country was in need of assistance. Some say more than half are in need despite higher incomes due to the high cost of living that seems to be getting higher every month. Maybe it’s time to try UBI.

Universal Basic Income is not a new idea. In 1797 Thomas Paine, the author of Common Sense, proposed granting all citizens a lump sum of money at adulthood, and James Meade, who received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1977, offered a similar plan at a conference in 1988 when he described a “tax-free, social dividend” paid to every citizen. When Andrew Yang ran for president in 2020, he put forth a universal basic income plan called the Freedom Dividend. He wanted to give every American citizen $1,000 a month regardless of income in an attempt to help people pay bills, educate themselves, and even start businesses. He claimed the economy would grow by about 13 percent by 2025, and the 40 million Americans living below the poverty line would have a concrete way to create a better life for themselves.

Some people might argue that sending out more monthly stimulus checks would just be too heavy a burden on the country’s current $31 trillion debt. I say it might just be the thing that saves this country’s life. I agree with Andrew Yang’s old 2020 plan. The cost of living in America is becoming too high for many Americans. I have one friend who has made a move to Uruguay, and another over 70 friend looking at Mexico. Money is what drove one out and is behind the other one looking at alternatives to the USA.

The COVID stimulus checks, subsequent bump in food stamps (an extra $95 for most recipients), and the increase in unemployment benefits was for many people, the first time they were able to pay all their bills and breathe. Most people getting unemployment did not want to give up their sudden “wealth.” Some politicians criticized the increases, saying people don’t want to work. What I saw was not people rejecting work, but people who were willing to work but not for less than their new take home pay. The pandemic pulled back the curtain and revealed the harsh reality for too many Americans that was constant struggle and constant stress to just get by.

Most people could not make it on $1,000 a month, so people would continue to work, but maybe they could choose a job they actually wanted, instead of doing work to just pay the bills. Maybe that $1,000 could pay for health insurance. Maybe that $1,000 a month is just what a single parent needs to start a business or pay for childcare or get a massage and see a chiropractor. Nearly half of Americans do not have a spare $400 to cover a sudden, unplanned expense like a car repair as Neal Gabler wrote about in his 2016 Atlantic piece, “The Secret Shame of Middle-Class Americans.” He wrote the piece because he knew how expensive life had become for even someone like himself - a published writer who had won numerous awards and got teaching gigs at top schools. He couldn’t pull together $400 bucks. Inflation is going up and wages are not.

At a time when pandemic benefits are on the verge of being over, I’d like to propose that Cibola County consider an experiment - give every registered voter in the county $700. That’s just an arbitrary number I picked because I’m guessing most people could pay their rent or mortgage with that amount of money. Most. Here’s what I’m guessing would happen: crime would go down because people would have less of a need to commit theft. Some people would start a small business. Some people would be happier because they could pay their debts off, and their happiness would fuel all kinds of unseen, unimaginable acts of goodness across the County. Most people would boost the economy because they’d buy some things they may have been dreaming of. A few people might choose to work part-time so they could exercise, cook more meals at home, and hang out with their kids. Unemployment would go down because folks could job share. And, Voter registration would be at an all time high!

Remember, when we help individuals thrive, we are helping the whole country thrive because we the people make up this beautiful place.