Day 259: Living Income Guaranteed and Raising Children

Q: "I have two children - One child is now 24 and the other is 6. When I was raising my 24-year old, I worked all of time and because of this I had to leave that child in the care of others until they were old enough to stay home by themselves. I don't mind working - I actually like it very much. I just feel like I missed out on so much of my child's life and that I wasn't there for them as much as I could have been because I was physically exhausted, distracted with work issues, and other life things. When my 24-year old was in their last year of high school, I became pregnant after years of believing that it wouldn't be possible for my husband and myself to have more children. Again, for financial reasons, I had to cut breast-feeding short, go back to work, and hand my child over to the care of others. Unfortunately, this child did not do as well as my first with others taking care of them and was having physical and behavioral issues come up from me not being home with them. So my question is: Does what you propose with living income guaranteed address this problem? Will parents, like myself, be able to stay home if we want to? And if we DO decide to stay home, will it be seen as though we're 'living off of the state' or collecting unemployment benefits where we will be pressured to get back out into the workforce as soon as possible? Is there a cap of how long we can stay at home with the children?"

A:

So my question is: Does what you propose with living income guaranteed address this problem? Will parents, like myself, be able to stay home if we want to?

Yes, definitely. Anyone in a caretaker position will be able to stay at home and focus on such responsibilities, while receiving a Livinng Income Guaranteed that is sufficient, where one won't require to sacrifice time spent with one's family for the purpose of generating an additional income source. The Living Income Guaranteed movement recognizes the fact that parents are not able to spend sufficient time with their children and how this is having a detrimental effect on society, as it influences the development and education of new generations and how they are able to participate in and contribute to society as a whole. Forcing parents to take up employment and placing their children in the care of others is a disservice to the parents, the children and society as whole - thus, with LIG, parents are no longer punished for having a child, but unconditionally supported.

And if we DO decide to stay home, will it be seen as though we're 'living off of the state' or collecting unemployment benefits where we will be pressured to get back out into the workforce as soon as possible? Is there a cap of how long we can stay at home with the children?

No - one would not be living off the state, since LIG is not financed through state-owned funds, but by the profits generated from a country's heritage. No one will thus be paying for someone else's LIG, removing the resentment that currently exists within taxpayers towards welfare programs that are funded through income taxes. There are also no caps for how long one can receive a Living Income Guaranteed - it is unconditionally provided; when to take up employment is therefor a decision for each to make in consideration of one's responsibilities.

Day 258: Will Implementation of LIG put more Stress on the Ecosystem by Creating more Consumers?

Q: "When LIG is implemented and people, who were mostly outcasts, become able to fully participate in the system we can probably expect a huge increase in consumption putting more stress on the already suffering ecosystem of the planet. How can we deal with this effectively"




A: "This is why other structural changes form part of the LIG proposal.

1. That before a product is produced, market research must be done that establishes a genuine demand for such a product as the mentality is followed that when a product is produced, we can create the demand for it through advertising.

2. Advertisement should stand in relation to informing potential consumers about what the product is, how long it will last, what the materials used are, how the price is determined - appealing to a person's rational choice making capabilities, without using manipulation and persuasion tactics that appeal and attempt to influence a person's emotional state of mind.

3. Durable products (eg: something that you use several times, like a vacuum cleaner or a bed, a car, etc) require to be approved by the bureau of standards where they have to be able to show that they have made the product to last for as long as reasonably possible.


The purpose of all these measures is to counter the trend of living beyond our means - where we have been depleting the Earth's resources faster than we can replenish it through producing and selling goods that no one truly needs or wants, but are sold through manipulative means of convincing the consumer that they DO want and need this good, and through producing inferior goods that were made to break. So, LIG intends to align our ECOnomic system to our ECOlogical reality - which is an absolute must if we intend our children to inherit an Earth that is not damaged beyond repair. We are the custodians of Earth - whether this position is rightful or unrightfully claimed is beyond our time - we have placed ourselves as humanity in the position where we are the only ones who can make a change to the health of the planet we inhabit - and thus we have a responsibility to do so."

For more perspective, visit www.livingincome.me !