I was born in the 1950’s and so grew up in what I recognize now to be a unique and fortunate time economically. When I married in 1976, the United States was entering a period of recession, but even at that, my husband was always employed. By the time our third baby was born, he had a union job with benefits. We were able to, by careful management, raise six children to adulthood on his income alone, while I made homemaking and motherhood my full-time career.

Now those six children are adults and the economic world is a very different place from that of just one generation ago. Although each in their own right is extremely hard-working, most struggle to make ends meet. Their care and budget - conscious behaviors are familiar, similar to what I experienced as their parent. The difference is that their struggles come in efforts to survive as single individuals. As was the case with the childhood in which they were raised, their housing is simple, with few modern amenities, yet they rent their small spaces with roommates, whereas in the 1980’s we were able to buy a house with a large yard. We owned automobiles; they walk and ride buses. We took occasional vacations; they stay close to home. We looked forward to a pension - supported retirement; they have no such hopes and dare not dwell too much on thoughts about the future.

My children are artists. They are gifted and sensitive people who express beauty through drawing and painting, writing and music. One of the oldest is partnered with a successful Internet entrepreneur and has money to share and does so generously and would certainly share her allotment of basic income with others. Another works for the entrepreneur; a basic income would enable her to purchase her first home as she enters her forties, giving her the quiet space she needs from which to continue to write words of encouragement to many. The two musicians could trade toiling at physical labor for hours of practice with their instruments. They have music to share with the world and would give more. The two visual artists would have anxieties lifted and be able to more freely create their unique contributions. They, too, would more abundantly enrich the world.

With the challenges of my offspring in mind, I have said that I would spend my basic income allotment by stuffing twenties in musician’s tip jars, covering my walls with the work of local artists and sharing wads of cash with pedi-cab drivers. I believe that my children represent the children of many mothers. The struggles of our young people are real and wasteful.

Basic income should not be financed on the backs of anyone already struggling, and most Americans are burdened enough. But the United States of America is a wealthy nation and that which is produced to make it so is not manufactured by the elite who hoard the nation’s wealth. It is produced by all and it is right and proper that it be shared by all.

We need a starting point for adult life which allows for simple food and shelter, without qualification, for every citizen. From such beginnings, I fully anticipate another wealth of beauty and creative thought will be unearthed. A properly funded basic income will be the means of initiating a period of new renaissance. I look forward to seeing and participating in just such a wondrous time. Let us figure out a way to return the wealth of our nation to the many to whom it belongs. Let us make Basic Income a reality now.