Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come. Victor Hugo

On April 4th this year, I gave a talk for the Belgian Zeitgeist movement, and I started by sharing a kind of «unconvenient thruth».

The misunderstanding, surrounding the idea of Basic Income remains very large and opponents of the Basic Income idea like to keep the fog around it as thick as possible.

They try to use the fear strategy and accuse us, the supporters of Basic Income of propaganda, of spreading the idea in a dogmatically way , and they do not hesitate to accuse us that we are engaged in a kind of new religion.

When I try to reply and ask them, ok, maybe I am wrong, for I do not have the monopoly on the truth, then they close their ranks, but bring no good arguments that can contribute to the enrichment of the debate.

Of course they study the Basic Income idea and they tell me they soon will come out with the pros and cons.

And they know everything about the cons, but the cons are seldom constructive.

So I have this strange feeling they are busy reinventing hot water and the water pipes through which this water must flow should be theirs, because they are afraid of loosing the old achievements.

Or as Nicolo Machiavelli put it sharply: “It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones. ” (The Prince-chapter 6)



And yes, am not a university professor, I am not an economist and I am not a philosopher, but I am, as most of you probably, a citizen who seeks for change.

So, I am not going to tell you that Basic Income is the only solution to all our problems. However, I am convinced that most problems, like climatechange, are linked together and that we should be interested in solutions like degrowth, like a sustainable and a more frugal economy, but to do so, we need a strong and simple tool towards a complete change of the system out of the short-term consumerism.

And here I would like to quote Michel Bauwens from the P2P mouvement. The Transition will not be smooth sailing. «The underlying issue is how gradual, smooth, and thus bearable, the transition will be. And how can we support those who gain a taste for frugality and its advantages and take the plunge into a differnet way of life? »

It’s indeed a big challenge!

I told you, I am not an economist. So for those who are preparing their calculators, sorry, I am not going to answer the questions about how to finance Basic Income. I just can tell you it is possible to finance it and some people much smarter than I already did the exercise.

But, what we really need (and this I want to say in Dutch, because it is linked to our Belgian politics, our former prime minister Leterme remember…. ) what we need are : vijf minuten politieke moed (five minutes of political courage)



Our policymakers only talk about the Gross National Product, because that’s how they measure how economically rich we are and so it is linked to work-production and consumption. Gross National Product measures everything, except that which makes life worthwhile.” Health, education, self-development, having enough free time to do something else instead of only working, producing and consuming.

Yet, when you talk about transition and change towards a system that makes life worthwhile and you talk about Gross National Happiness instead of Gross National Product and you propose among others Unconditional Basic Income (UBI) or Citzen Dividend, you’ll discover soon how difficult it is: people are so afraid for the unknown and prefer to push forwards the challenges they are confronting because they are afraid of losing the old achievements.

So to me, UBI, means in the first place a change of mentality, a kind of switch towards a new sustainable system and therefore we need build Basic Income awareness.

In Belgium, a national Basic Income could be a politically viable program twenty years down the road, but only if it can become a more mainstream concept in the nearer future.

Our politicians need to begin addressing Basic Income as a legitimate idea and start talking about how it might work.

We need to build awareness, so that elected officials and the general population know what Basic Income is and what problems it could solve.

We need policy experts to think about scenarios for how it could be practically implemented.

And we eventually need to set up city- and state-wide experiments here in Belgium, in the same way the Netherlands are doing now, so that we validate its effectiveness in a real domestic environment.

But there is always this NIMBY factor .

When I talk about Basic Income: most people say, waaw what a strong idea!And than they ask: but what do I risk to lose in this system….? Or they say, that’s fine, but aren’t you going to create an army of lazy losers?

So I like to compare Basic Income with the Belgian lottery win for life, say, 1000 euros a month, and than people say: if I win this lottery, there will be no much change in my life, I’ll continue to work, maybe in part time, or I’ll do something else because I do not like my job; I would like to create something, realize a dream or I’ll buy something nice for my home or for my children and so on and so on…

So, lottery seems to bring only positive, constructive and trustfully vibes...

People feel ZEN with lottery.

No-one is telling me, “when my neighbor is the lucky winner of 1000 euro a month, he’ll become a lazy looser….” and yet, as soon I do ask the same question about 1000 euro UBI a month, confidence in the other disappears like snow in the sun: all others, except me, will become lazy losers.

And now, let’s start with the bad news: The robots are stealing our jobs.

That may sound like science fiction to many of you, but it really shouldn’t – it’s been happening for years, and there are now hundreds of jobs disappearing every day.

And No, I’m not talking about a WALL-E scenario. (and don’t you dare to say somthing wrong about this lovely little robot for he is my grandchildrens hero). No, the way that robots are stealing our jobs is by automating the work we do today.

But wait, you might say, won’t the automation of low-skilled jobs create new higher-skilled technology positions in their place?

Yes, there will be some new jobs created, but , never enough let’s be clear and honest about it. And even higher-skilled jobs are at risk today and start to be be handled more and more by computer programs.

So robots taking our jobs is a devastating blow, especially in a full employment economy. Inequality and poverty will increase, aswell as a huge amount of stress on our social welfare systems for the unemployed, which weren’t designed to support that number of people for extended periods of time.

So, what if we no longer would focus on full employment? What if it was okay to not have a full-time position? What if robots stealing our jobs could actually be a good thing, rather than something to fear? That’s the thinking behind a Guaranteed Basic Income .

At first blush, of course, Basic Income may seem very similar to existing social programs, providing assistance to help those who are struggling.

But, there is a key difference : Basic Income would be considered a fundamental right, rather than a form of welfare. This would eliminate any stigma, that might exist for programs that are designed for those in need.

And it is simple.

Because UBI would be provided to every adult, and because it just involves sending a fixed payment to people every month , it would be much simpler to run and require less bureaucracy than other social programs.

But, let me also give you the four criteria for Basic Income as accepted by all members of the Basic Income Earth Network, BIEN.

Basic Income is universal, individual, unconditional, and high enough

So Basic Income has to be high enough to live on, without needing any supplemental funds. That means that you’d be able to get by, even if you lost your job and there wouldn’t be immediate pressure to find a new one as quickly as possible. Having full-time employment would no longer be mandatory.

What’s more, recent studies have shown that anxiety around poverty reduces brain power – which means that the Unconditional Basic Income would actually make people smarter. As I say: always look at the bright side of life!

Some are wondering whether or not, we should first start with a UBI at the European level.

We see today overwhelming evidence that the economic and austerity policies of the European Union have a devastating impact on the lives of many Europeans, and they often lead to a situation in which people have very little control over their own lives.

A growing number of people are confronted with an everyday life of financial restrictions and a fading hope of seeing personal and professional efforts recognized.

So, yes, with the objective of an Unconditional Basic Income for each European Citizen, it would be possible to set a positive process in motion, allowing everyone the opportunity of participation in working towards the common goals as stated in the European Constitution and the Declaration of Human Rights.

So let me just have a few words about the European Basic Income idea as proposed by Philippe Van Parijs, founder of BIEN.

He calls it the Euro-dividend .

It consists of paying a modest Basic Income, called a European Citizen Dividend and he proposes 200 euro, to every legal resident of the European Union, or at least of the subset of member states that either have adopted the Euro or are committed to doing so soon.

This income provides each resident with a universal and unconditional floor that can be supplemented at will by labour income, capital income and social benefits. Its level can vary from country to country to track the cost of living, and it can be lower for the young and higher for the elderly. It is to be financed by the Value Added Tax.

But I leave it to you to google Philippe Van Parijs and Euro-dividend, to read more about it.

Sometimes I like to think this would be a good solution for Greece.

Basic Income pilote projects have proven that it works, so why not, instead of suffocating Greece with unrealistic demands and impossible obligations, start a European pilote project for Basic Income in Greece?

But I suppose this is a personal wishful thinking?

Joris Swalus, one of the organizers of this Zeitgeist event today, asked me to give some history about Basic Income or Citizen Income,

But, you know, whenever the idea somewhere in history bubbled up again, it always was in its own contemporary context.

Some days ago I did read a quote coming from US President Theodore Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States and I would like to share it with you:

In his annual Message to the Congress on January 11, 1944 and in a fireside chat to the American people the same evening, he stated : “We now do realise the fact that true individual freedom can not exist without economic security and independence. Men in need are not free men.” People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made and only when men have hours of labour short enough , he will, after his days work is done, have time and energy to bear his share in the management of community and to help carrying the general load.”

This sounds like music in my basic income ears: work less and UBI or Citizens Income : that’s what the future should be about!

And although the context of history and time was complete different, Thomas Paine already pronounced similar words during the French revolution, some hundred fifty years earlier. “No income, no citizen” he claimed in 1792 at the National Assembly.

The French Revolution was just broken out, but Thomas Paine warned his fellow revolutionaries: “democracy can only work when citizens are economically free and available to make flourish her.”

Today, professor Guy Standing , one of the co-founders of Basic Income Earth Network, tells us exactly the same in his book “A precariat charter, from denizen to citizen” : the term Precariat was originally used to denote temporary and seasonal workers, but now, with labor insecurity, a feature of most western economies, it is the perfect word for a great mass of people, “flanked by an army of unemployed and a detached group of socially ill misfits”, who enjoy almost none of the benefits won by organized labor during the 20th century. “

In Standing’s view, they increasingly resemble denizens rather than citizens: people with restricted rights, largely living towards the bottom of a “tiered membership” model of society.

So the idea of Basic Income bubbled up a long time ago, and still keeps bubbling up, but what I notice today is that it gets more and more followers.

Victor Hugo said: nothing is as powerful as an idea who’s time has come.

We all know him as a novelist, dramatist and poet.

But do we know this about him:

In 1848, Hugo was elected to the Parliament as a conservative.

In 1849 he broke with the conservatives when he gave a noted speech calling for the end of misery and poverty.

In other progressive speeches he called for universal suffrage and free education for all children.

And Hugo’s advocacy to abolish the death penalty was renowned internationally.

So it’s in fact all about the Zeitgeist.

And about strong men and women who are not afraid for the unknown and believe that progress is the realisation of Utopias. For, as Oscar Wilde said: “A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing. And when Humanity lands there, it looks out, and, seeing a better country, sets sail. Progress is the realisation of Utopias.”



Today’s Zeigeist is in transition. The momentum for change has come!

And we live in a very exciting «Zeitgeist» I would even say we live at the crossroads of old and new, and that is always full of suspense.

Which direction to choose?

What legacy we should take from the past, and what should we leave to not burden our choice of direction towards the future?

Let’s talk about the Belgian social security.

I like to think that at the beginning of the industrial revolution, social security was also a kind of utopia progressing in the mind of some people. But then it was realized and it was greatly expanded thanks too the unions.Yet today we are in a very different situation: at the crossroad of a changing labor market in which we are becoming prosumers.

This word was coined in the 80’s by the futurist Alvin Toffler — in his book The Third Wave — as a blend of producer and consumer.

He used it, to describe a possible future type of consumer, who would become involved in the design and the production of goods,

He argued, that we would then no longer be a passive market upon which industry dumped consumer goods, but a part of the creative process.

So our social security needs an urgent update.

And whether you call it Basic Income, Citizens income, Transition Income….it’s all about advancing equality and economic participation while enabling and emancipating simpler welfare systems.

Today A Solar powerd plane, the Solar Impulse, is flying around the world.We descovered that Jupiters moon Ganymede has a salty ocean with more wather than on earth.

So Oscar Wilde was right: progress is the realization of utopias.

We first learned how to use fire, and this was a huge step forward and I am sure about this: some of our far-off ancestors at the first fire also burned their fingers…..so this unknown new discovery for sure was not immediately appreciated by all.

Some of the clan members maybe said: “oh forget about fire, it burns your fingers, so let’s remain deeply enough into the cave to keep warm and safe.”

But soon they knew: this unknown possibility not only keeps warm, brings safety ….and a mammouth burger on barbecue tastes so much better…

So we humans kept going on, progressing from crossraod to crossroad , setting sails for newer and better countries. We are leaving now the era of petrol in which we made cars and aircraft and we live in a more and more INTERNET connected world, and what’s next? …..

Yes what? Are we entering the P2P revolution towards a collaboration prosumers economy? But I leave it to Jean (Jean Lievens from the P2P movement was the other guest at this event) to explain more about it.

Today I would like to quote Jacque Fresco, an American futurist. He also is known for The Venus Project, with resource-based economy ideas.

And he also featured in the film Zeitgeist Addendum where his ideas of the future were given as possible alternatives.

«Today we have access to highly advanced technologies. But our social and economic system has not kept up with our technological possibilities that could easely create a world of abundance, free of servitude and debt. Yet too many of us continue to believe that some miracle technology will make growth possible, again and again and thus postpone the need for change because they think there is no alternative and that growth is the only solution.”

So I propose Basic Income as a possible alternative.

As I said in the beginning: the idea is simple: everyone in society receives a regular income simply for being alive. And, let me ask you this. Would our lives be better, would they have more meaning, if we knew we are working together as a species toward common goals, without the fear of income security?

To me the answer is yes! What if we start really working together toward these common goals, designing our worldwide society for the benefit of all?

I used the word common. And you must have heard about the commons.

I leave it to Jean (Lievens) to talk about the commons for P2P and collaboration economy both fit perfectly in the commons.

But, what I would like to say about it: the contributors who create common values, and share them, don’t have an income security.

With the Unconditional Basic Income the individual would have easier access to a range of human activities, and thus in fact will encourage work.

A Guaranteed Basic Income that is high enough to ensure an existence in dignity and participation in society and ables you to make your own free choices as well in private life, in your P2P or prosumers activities or on the formal labor market.

It evens out life chances and choices.

And choice is as the Muse of creativity: human beings are not short of activities, but rather of recognition, of freedom and financial security.

But here’s another quote from Jacque Fresco: «: “If you think we can’t change the world, It just means you’re not one of those that will”

Today the Zeitgeist is a bit of gloomy. And as I said, we are on the crossroad of old and new. It gives an uncertain feeling, how to deal with the “unknown”?

Well, I am quiet positive about it: Humanity comes from far and still has to go a long way. We learn by trial and error. No one has a crystal ball, but the future starts today, not tomorrow.

Jeremy Rifkin, author of “The Third Industrial Revolution,” said “Basic Income is not a utopia, it is a practical business plan for the next step of the human journey.”

Lambrecht Christina