Basic income: some basic information

After sharing my previous blog I received quite a lot of positive reactions on twitter for my plea for a basic income. I was surprised to notice the enormous activity going on worldwide with regards to this topic.
And I was pleased about that. So I decided that basic income deserves some more promotion from my side as well. Today I'll give some basic information about it which I mainly found on the web site of Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), founded in 1986, at http://www.basicincome.org/

This Network has grown massively in the past 10 years, after expanding their focus on Europe to a worldwide focus in 2004. Their aim is "to serve as a link between individuals and groups committed to or interested in basic income", and it "fosters informed discussions on this topic [...]"

What is a basic income in the first place? BIEN defines it on their web site as "an income unconditionally granted to all on an individual basis, without means test or work requirement".

Following their web site information, the idea of a basic income is not new. Already in the 16th century humanists came up with the idea of a minimum income, and in the 18th century the unconditional factor of an income was brought up. The idea of an unconditional basic income first appeared in the middle of the 19th century. In the 20th century basic income discussions took place in England between the world wars, in the USA in the 1960s and 70s, and since the late 70s and early 80s North-Western Europe has been debating the subject. But apparently it was Alaska who introduced a real basic income through a permanent fund for all its inhabitants.

Nowadays quite some debating is going  in several countries in Europe, such as Switzerland, Portugal, France and UK about the pro-s and con's and about the feasibility of introducing a basic income.
Finland and a few cities in the Netherlands are right now the only ones who are on the edge of starting a basic income experiment. And the whole world will be watching.