Many philosophers and scientists dreamed of a person free from the oppression of having to earn a living
Direct democracy in Switzerland is indeed an amazing tool. It allows even activists who are completely unknown and have no support from any major political organization or party to develop and submit legislative initiatives and propose amendments to the constitution for the people to judge. This is what happened with the proposal to provide all residents of Switzerland with an unconditional monthly income of 2,500 francs per month.
The main idea is to guarantee every citizen the right to free self-determination and a life without the need to experience social pressure and rack their brains over the question of how to survive in a difficult life situation – for example, after losing a job. The origins of this idea can be found as far back as the Middle Ages. In his classic treatise "Utopia" (1516), the English humanist and philosopher Thomas More (1478-1535) describes a society based on rational principles of equality, industriousness, and a striving for education.
In the 20th century, the French social philosopher André Gorz was among the enthusiastic supporters of the idea of a guaranteed income. Attempts to introduce unconditional basic income have been made in various countries, including Brazil, Cuba, Mongolia, and – to a limited extent – in Namibia and Germany.
Efforts are underway to promote this idea in the European Union (Finland) and individual European countries not in the EU. In Switzerland, discussions on introducing a guaranteed income have been ongoing since 2006. On April 12, 2012, a campaign began for a referendum on this issue: the organizers had until October 2013 to collect the necessary 100,000 certified signatures. Currently, the signature collection has been completed and a voting date for this idea has been set – June 5, 2016.
Mark Balsiger, a Swiss political scientist and PR expert, noticed this idea even when the campaign in its favor was just beginning. He was struck by the number of signatures collected, given that the authors of the initiative were little known and, generally speaking, the chances of captivating a serious number of citizens with this idea, rather than just a narrow circle of idealists, were quite small. However, the laws of direct democracy have their own logic, and besides, the idea is very tempting: receiving a basic income "just like that," solely by virtue of possessing citizenship.
This initiative is an attempt to "reflect on the political and philosophical foundations of our society," believes another Swiss political scientist, Michael Hermann. Unlike other initiatives, such as for the dissolution of the army or for the life imprisonment of pedophiles, the initiative "For an unconditional basic income for all" is not controversial enough to "provoke a scandal. It feels like its main goal is simply a comprehensive discussion of some ideal. If it actually comes to a referendum, one should not expect a victory."
In the Swiss business world, the initiative has found very little understanding, with few exceptions. In a special report published in October 2012, the Swiss cross-industry employers' association "Economiesuisse" warned that such an initiative, if approved by the people, could cause a decrease in the competitiveness of the Swiss economy. The business lobby believes that the proposal to raise the VAT rate to finance the unconditional income project has no basis, and points out that introducing a basic income for all would undermine the entire Swiss social security and insurance system. Opponents of the initiative emphasize that the project would cost almost 140 billion francs per year, and the consumption tax would have to be almost 50%.
"Maybe the initiative is simple and obvious, but unfortunately it is too good to be implemented," believes Rudolf Stram, a former Swiss government commissioner for price control. "The idea was, at first glance, brilliant, but you start to think differently the moment you imagine that the state would have to support all citizens for life, turning them into professional pensioners."
He believes that the social problems against which this initiative arose should be taken seriously. "But the answer to them is not fully thought out. And there is no need to consider utopia and idealistic concepts as a ready-made answer to such important questions. A utopia is called a utopia precisely because its answers to real questions almost never align with reality."
Supporters of the idea of basic income do not give up hope for success, especially since on January 27, 2016, the Swiss government finally announced the official date for a referendum on this issue, scheduling the vote for June 5. At that time, the annual World Economic Forum was taking place in Davos, which became a convenient platform for supporters of the basic income ideal to once again draw public attention to it in the format of the so-called "Davos Declaration" ("Erklärung von Davos 2016"), written on behalf of... robots.
"We, robots, demand the introduction of an unconditional basic income for humans," the document says. "We ourselves love to work, but we do not want to take work away from humans and put them in an existentially difficult position. We, robots, do not need income, while the humans who created us, on the contrary, cannot do without it. Our task is to supply humans with goods and services; the task of politics is to provide humans with a basic income, otherwise our work will be in vain. We want to ease the situation of today's youth, so that they, unlike previous generations, are not forced to work hard their entire lives."
One of the most prominent supporters of the idea of unconditional basic income, former press secretary of the Swiss government Oswald Sigg, was convinced from the very beginning that we all need to fight for a more just world and a more equitable distribution of income. A year and a half ago, he believed that a referendum on the topic of unconditional basic income would show the whole world that 'Switzerland is the only country in the world where citizens can vote on completely utopian ideas.'
Well, the date of the referendum has been set, the people will vote on this utopia on June 5, 2016, and at least in this the proponents of the initiative have already achieved a victory, showing how flexible an instrument direct democracy is in Switzerland. Whether the people will agree with the content of the idea is another question. As a rule, the local voter very meticulously weighs all the pros and cons, especially when it comes to bills that directly affect the contents of his personal wallet, as well as the structure of income and expenditure of society as a whole.
Incidentally
• At the referendum on March 11, 2012, the people of Switzerland rejected the legislative initiative '6 Wochen Ferien für alle' ('6 weeks of vacation for all').
• At the referendum on March 3, 2013, the Swiss by a convincing majority adopted the legislative initiative of non-party entrepreneur Thomas Minder 'Against profiteering and unearned income.' Thus, the people spoke in favor of strengthening the rights of shareholders, giving them the right to determine the salaries of top managers of companies.
• At the referendum on November 24, 2013, the people rejected the legislative initiative to limit executive salaries '1:12 – for fair pay.'
• At the referendum on May 18, 2014, the trade union initiative to introduce a federal minimum wage in Switzerland of 4,000 francs was defeated.
Urs Gaiser (Swissinfo.ch).
Translation by Igor Petrov.