Is there enough work for everyone? Kim Stanley Robinson on the future of planetary employment. Never make the mistake of thinking “efficient” is synonymous with “good” Kim Stanley Robinson Say it’s the very near future, and you’re a worker put out of work in the declining oil industry. You’re highly educated, and you’ve been well-compensated, […]
Finnish basic income pilot improved wellbeing
First major study of scheme comes as economic toll of coronavirus prompts fresh interest in idea Europe’s first national, government-backed basic income experiment did not do much to encourage recipients into work but did improve their mental wellbeing, confidence and life satisfaction, according to the first big study of a Finnish scheme that has attracted […]
A Practical Utopian’s Guide to the Coming Collapse
A quarter of the American population is now engaged in “guard labor”—defending property, supervising work, or otherwise keeping their fellow Americans in line. Economically, most of this disciplinary apparatus is pure deadweight. Revolutions are thus planetary phenomena. But there is more. What they really do is transform basic assumptions about what politics is ultimately about. […]
What a Solidarity Economy Looks Like
Despite President Bolsonaro’s COVID-19 denialism, a small Brazilian city has one of the most ambitious responses in the world. While Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro denies that a serious public health crisis is underway, a small municipality an hour up the coast from Rio de Janeiro has instituted a remarkable and effective COVID-19 response. In Maricá, a […]
How Civic Technology Can Help Stop a Pandemic
Taiwan’s Initial Success Is a Model for the Rest of the World The guiding principle was not top-down control but mutual respect and cooperation. Privacy was carefully protected, and the movements of an individual were not visible to others. This approach supported an astonishing degree of social coordination, which reduced transmission. And despite being an […]