While embodying a hive mind of youthful resentment against the establishment, social media site Reddit has made an increasing influence on what we see on our everyday timelines and news tickers. Those only familiar with Facebook or Twitter may still not even be aware of its existence despite its knack of reporting major news stories even before giants like the BBC, Fox News and Russia Today. As well as this it is the source of the entertainment content such as .gifs, YouTube clips and memes which now proliferate the images seen on your laptop or smartphone. The hugely popular Facebook pages ‘I Fucking Love Science’ and ‘The LAD Bible’ are known to recycle zany and amusing Reddit content.

Cheery sci-fi references and animals aside though, Reddit has demonstrated serious power to instigate social change. When the initial movements of 2011’s ‘Arab Spring’ were reported it created a domino effect which propelled protest into the mainstream in Middle Eastern and North African countries. Reddit also reported the phone hacking by the News of the World before it hit news stations. Based on this, I hope that Reddit’s resurgence of the Basic Income idea can be taken seriously. Admittedly the thought is far from new but its re-emergence is largely due to well-informed contributors of the site who are struggling in a difficult economy. The hypothesis has even been highlighted by Rolling Stone magazine as one of “Five Economic Reforms Millennials Should Be Fighting For”. Although it has been around since 1975 the idea is still purely theoretical as it has never been properly implemented. Britain’s Welfare State has been a shambolic and divisive half-hearted attempt.

Now the ideas I’m going to propose are inevitable to attract controversy in a country where kicking benefit claimants and renouncing fecklessness are both very much in vogue due to a mainstream media campaign driven by right-wing ideology. It is a simple plan. Award every adult in our country (employed, unemployed, of working age, a pensioner, a man, a woman, in the armed forces, pregnant, single or everything else you can imagine) with a basic income of around £15,000 ($20,000) p/a depending exactly on the actual cost of living based on the retail price index. Now hold your breath. I know you can imagine a chaotic dystopia of nothing ever being done and idle people remaining indoors watching TV. Hear me out because this idea will be just a tip of the iceberg in what would be a dramatic change to current societal values. We need to think outside the box here. Is having envy for immigrants or workless people reliant on the state or while we make the bus journey to work really fruitful? Animosity towards these “scroungers” is misdirected anger that should be aimed at the fact that working, very much like a Ponzi scheme, promises many rewards but has yet to fulfil them. It is a government plan to divide and rule. The working poor pitting against the deserving poor shields the elite from rightful fury.

The concept in its current form is inspired by young people in post-crisis America left understandably frustrated at working long hours for a low wage. The nature of much work in the States such as Valeting, Bartendering and delivering Pizzas is reliant on tips. In a self-centred thinking and budget economy these are scarce. These are usually high school graduates left in a purgatory situation without free time or even the luxury to afford their own place to live. Their prospects of attending college or university are laughable. Unlike Britain, the USA is a country that does not have a minimum wage, universal healthcare or certain forms of welfare. Shocking efforts for a first world democracy’s congress. We take for granted both Trade Unions and the Labour Party who gave us these progressive policies. Despite this, the idea is not alien from discussion in the United Kingdom. Firstly it’s devastating to see how unhappy these youngsters have become and apathetic at two party politics, largely like the young voters on our island who don’t turn out in general elections. Secondly the rhetoric towards the unemployment crisis on this side of the Atlantic talks of a lost generation, similar to the American counterparts who can’t possibly acquire their own independence or start a family with their significant other. Topics strongly relevant to British political debate are Welfare, Employment and Education. A Basic Income could repair the bitterness, misunderstanding and disparity we have here.

In regards to Welfare, we spend billions of pounds more money on this than we need to. When people out work can receive more than the average annual salary this makes people furious. The Basic Income idea would tie in with scrapping all current forms of Welfare in the UK completely. The system is complicated. Jobseekers’ Allowance, Council Tax Benefit, Incapacity Benefit*, Housing Benefit and Child Tax Benefits are only a few of the different kinds people can receive. Iain Duncan Smith’s idea of consolidating one payment known as Universal Credit has totally failed. A Basic Income of £15,000 would guarantee that everyone can afford to live. *Those who suffer serious health disadvantages that require extra care, support or facilities would continue to receive help from local authorities.

One concern I did have when I first read about the idea is that it might discourage everyone from going to work. All the jobs I have worked have paid £15,000 p/a pro-rata or under so to be able to have the same amount of money while sitting down all day playing Xbox or updating amateur blogs would be very tempting. But as the average wage is £26,000 p/a most people earn more than the basic income so it would hardly be an incentive for them to stop working. I and many others are stuck on a wage like this because we are poorly qualified. Having a Basic Income would allow us the flexibility to gain better accolades like a Master’s degree or a good vocation without being held by the scruff of the neck to do 40 hours a week. Research has shown that on average people would only work two hours less a week if on a Basic Income. An even better prospect is if full-time workers decided to halve their hours then it could increase employment through job share, which has been successful in Germany.

A Basic Income would actually be beneficial to those working for low pay. Many seemingly menial but actually very important jobs are low wage. Bartenders, hair dressers, street cleaners, factory workers, retail workers, bricklayers and care workers are examples of this. Those who do these jobs will need something better for it to be worth getting out of bed. Salary and conditions will have no choice but to rise. While vacancies remain competitive workers will have to excel to obtain jobs, and once in them will have less to worry about in terms of debt and making ends meets. It’s in our interests ethically to make workers happy but in addition to this quality and skill of service will improve amongst more content and serene employees.

Another thing we must understand is that full employment is not necessary, beneficial or possible. Many of those out of work continue to benefit their communities by volunteering, helping out in youth clubs and being an active member of clubs or societies. This makes our culture more enriched. Professor Kathi Weeks outlines that under the benefits of Basic Income we would have “time to cultivate new needs for pleasures, activities, senses, passions, affects, and socialites that exceed the options of working and saving, producing and accumulating”. Many jobs these days are made for the sake of it and are actually detrimental to workers as well as the public. For one cold-calling is done in a highly stressful target driven environment for staff. It is a cynical business model based on a 1% success rate amongst those unfortunate enough to be intrusively dialled to. It is for this reason that I don’t fully support Labour’s job guarantee for young people but I do believe that everyone should be in work at some point in their lives just for the experience and self-improvement. To some extent all jobs are good in terms of their discipline for punctuality and professionalism but when roles involving making totally unwanted phone calls then maybe they should not exist at all.

Now the semantics expressed above may advertise the idea as a luxurious hippy utopia. It is not that. It is a suggestion of how to improve quality of life for each and every one of us. How many people are working in a job they hate? Who would not love the opportunity to study for a degree? Parents want to spend more time with their children. Some have a relative to care for. Of course it is no silver bullet but it is an opportunity to end the miserable state that some of us are in. Individuals forced to work full time as a slave to debt and bills. They are placing their families, physical health and mental health as lesser priorities. We deserve a happier experience than this for the short time we are on this planet. One where we can worry less, care for others and seek hedonism. It is a real alternative to the bickering of socialism and neo-liberalism we have endured for decades and the most sensible solution for us as human beings.