Tag Archives: Underemployment

UN Expert Touts Universal Basic Income as “Bold and Imaginative Solution’ to Poverty

“In today’s world of severe economic insecurity, creativity in social policy is necessary.”

By Andrea Germanos, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 6-23-2017

U.N. special rapportuer Philip Alston says a “basic income offers a bold and imaginative solution to pressing problems that are about to become far more intractable as a result of the directions in which the global economy appears inexorably to be heading.” (Photo: Generation Grundeinkommen/flickr/cc)

Amplifying the call for a universal basic income, a United Nations expert has presented a report describing the idea as “a bold and imaginative solution” at a time of growing economic insecurity.

“People feel exposed, vulnerable, overwhelmed, and helpless and some are being systematically marginalized both economically and socially,” Philip Alston, U.N. Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, told the Human Rights Council. “But the human rights community has barely engaged with this resulting phenomenon of deep economic insecurity,” he said. Continue reading

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The Expo is a dark window into Italy’s future

Mafia, McDonalds and youth exploitation: The Milan World Expo, opening on May Day, prepares a new generation for the years to come.

Written by Jamie Mackay, a writer and journalist based in the UK and Italy. He is a contributing editor to openDemocracy. Published May 1, 2015.

Milan World Expo 2015. Image via Flickr.

Milan World Expo 2015. Image via Flickr.

Today sees the launch of the Milan Expo, an international exposition of food and agriculture which will take place in Italy’s financial capital over the next six-months. This year’s theme, ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life’ will see farmers, artisans and entrepreneurs from around the world set-up stall to sell their wares alongside stage-shows, concerts and talks by a roster of esteemed futurologists. This is a real-world pop-up show of all the things that might normally be encountered in Wired magazine: avant-garde art, gourmet cooking and sci-fi tech, all on display in a gargantuan ‘agro-park’ which is expected to host 20 million visitors. Continue reading

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