I dare to imagine a world where the focus is not money but passion and fulfillment, a world where everyone has access to a universal basic income that allows people to start seeking for things that they like to do, rather than for any job that will allow them to live or sometimes survive. The rise of Artificial Intelligence is transforming the way our societies work, and to successfully manage this disruptive transition, people need to be given financial cushions. This starts by voting for the right people, not for the populists that say what people want to hear, but the ones that will actually have a positive impact.
I dare to imagine a world with better access to free education. In the USA, students spend years trying to pay-off their debt, wasting their time and living under pressure, while they should be free to do what they like. Online classes and MOOCs are already helping education to become more widely spread and easily accessible. Online universities like Lambda School that offer income-sharing agreements also give new solutions to people’s problems, but these models are yet to be accessible by everyone. To have access to online classes, people need the internet, and to have the internet people need to have access to electricity, which is not the case everywhere. Finding big solutions often starts with solving small problems, and I believe that if political leaders cooperate with ambitious entrepreneurs, and if successful projects are reused in countries that need them, the world will be progressing faster than it has ever been.
In addressing the first world you describe, where Universal Basic Income (UBI) is a reality, one approach you mention is supporting the right candidates. I believe this is an excellent idea, as right now one of the bigger contenders for the 2020 democratic presidential nomination is Andrew Yang, a man who is currently bringing UBI to the forefront of political discussion in this country. If you choose to go down the road in which you focus on this issue, perhaps one route could be forming an PAC dedicated to lobbying for it, as win or lose, Yang has made it a discussion piece.
ReplyDeleteIn addressing the second world you imagine, where education is free and more readily accessible, I would recommend looking into Jeff Bezos dream of a more interconnected world, as right now I believe one of his projects is deploying a network of satellites into orbit that would provide internet in regions typically inaccessible or lacking the necessary infrastructure. A more important point to focus on might be the issue of the high costs of university education in the United States. There are many universities with billion dollar endowments, who simply hoard the money in a competition of sorts between them as to who can gain the most prestige the highest accumulation. By riding the wave of growing social tension when it comes to the issue of the imbalance between rich and poor, you might be able to make a significant impact in decreasing the costs of college and making it more accessible to those of lower socioeconomic status.
-Grant Nunley
Ghali,
ReplyDeleteYou have some really big dreams. I too dream of a world where people could focus on the things that matter to their lives. I wish it was as easy or as quick as you describe but the reality is that these things take time and buy-in from the right people. In your first point I think you're right, the first stem to building universal basic income is by voting for the right people who understand the changing dynamics of the world economy and how technology will displace millions of people from work. Maybe the solution is a bit more complex than universal income, because it will unlikely be enough for people to truly live comfortably. For example people living on welfare now barely have enough food to eat and enough money to keep a shelter over their head. My suggestion is that you combine this idea with your second. Create a universal basic standard for educating people that will allow them to have the tools to survive the technological changes that will impact the economy in the near future, and offer common sense solutions for making this education like the Lambda School offers.
-Khalil
Ghali,
ReplyDeleteI also agree that there needs to be a system in place to support entrepreneurs. If we say that the United States, and California in particular, is an economy that thrives on innovation it is hard to understand why it is encouraged so little. On top of that, people spend their most creative years in institutions being taught structured materials. What about the idea of providing education scholarships to students pursuing entreprenuership. These scholarships could connect entrepreneurs to foundations catering to developing communities.
Dan
Ghali,
ReplyDeleteI agree that the cost of education today has grown too much. Fifty years ago a student could expect to work a part-time job during the school year, full-time over the summers, and graduate with no student debt. Today, the situations many students face are so much bleaker. This problem reminds me about what Chuck Collins talks about in Born on Third Base. In the story about the four children of family friends. He compares one student whose parents were able to cover the entire cost of her education and the student was able to focus entirely on her education and getting internships. Another student worked many part-time jobs during college and over the summers forcing him to spend less time studying and pursuing internships and still he had to pay back around $85,000 after graduation. This situation makes it clear that traditional education is not allowing students to achieve success equally. I agree that new methods need to be implemented to allow students to be educated and receive degrees for a much more affordable price. Had the boy in Collins story had access to cheaper education his chances of success would be much greater.
Olivia