Genre: Non-Fiction Topic: Policy A $15 per hour federal minimum wage which is tied to inflation or productivity is essential since no employee should be paid a pittance for the services and goods which they provide their employers. Though that salary raise would boost buying power, businesses of all sizes should be equitably eligible for substantial grants as authentically small businesses should be granted massive tax breaks (while truly progressive taxation on businesses should be enacted as it is liberated from loopholes) to reinforce owners' granted ability to pay no less than $15 an hour. However, not one of us should rely on employment (even if the chance of being employed weren't fickle) to merely escape poverty. After all, poverty is a humanitarian horror which shall not be afforded any leniency. Moreover, our contributions to society often go unrecognized by the labour market (such as painting, storytelling, and stay-at-home caregiving). Therefore, many of us are prisoners to poverty, or indentured to living paycheck-to-paycheck for survival, unable to thrive by enriching society further by achieving our dreams, even as many of us are hired for multiple jobs merely to grasp onto existence. That's why we also need a permanent, vigorous, and monthly Universal Basic Income (UBI). ~~~ Now you may wonder, "a guaranteed income is a viable proposal yet why would we give it to wealthy people too?" Your concern is legitimate and here's my answer: Trying to make Basic Income payments equitable by targeting them on the front end is a self defeating notion since means-testing entails heavy taxation by bureaucracy and on time as individuals try to prove that they qualify for relief, which is dangerous when it pertains to a survival safety net. Targeting aid for the ability to live would leave many of us who are trapped in unending need behind, besides abandoning they of us who crash from unforseen and sudden woes beyond their own control. As such, a Basic Income that is Universal would guarantee financial security for all (just as Medicare-For-All would ensure essential physical and mental healthcare for all of us as it eliminates the bureaucracy, but I digress) as it would send poverty into unequivocal extinction. Besides, our economy would be freed to steadfastly thrive since, beyond expanding the tax base, we would all operate from a freeing place of essential financial security rather than the crippling fear of falling into poverty (or the inability to flee it). Even so, I iterate my understanding the desire to make Basic Income checks equitable. This can be achieved by incrementally taxing those payments on the back end for wealthy individuals (even though the payments would already be of progressively less worth to people with higher incomes). Enacting a robust UBI really would be a win-win scenario. ~~~ Finally, UBI payments should be sent via the IRS and Social Security so not one of us is left behind. - Written by C.A. Nicholas - Visual art by Piyapong Saydaung (Saydung89)
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