In early April I published a new full-length essay on Vocal that deep-dived into why UBI is so important now more than ever as tens of millions of people become unemployed, and as automation starts doing far more of the work that millions of those people will no longer do.

Special thanks to Sinnerman for the cover illustration, which he created for the article after reading an early draft. Here's a link to see the illustration in its full resolution.

The article is titled: The Future of the United States Depends on the Immediate Adoption of UBI.

Here's how it starts:

Flatten the curve... We’ve heard that phrase repeatedly as a result of the novel coronavirus in regards to the healthcare system. There are only so many healthcare workers, only so many hospitals with a limited number of rooms and beds, only so many ventilators and PPE. Because of these limits, we have to avoid surpassing them by stretching out the number of coronavirus infections over a longer amount of time. Flattening that particular curve is something the public and governments both understand. A curve understood by far too few however is our safety net’s. There are only so many welfare workers, only so much website capacity, only so many phone lines and people to answer them. Because of these limits, we should avoid surpassing them too, by avoiding millions of people applying simultaneously for welfare programs as a result of their incomes evaporating, as spending on goods and services grinds to a crawl. All over the world, safety nets are proving absolutely unable to keep up with the numbers of people filing for benefits...

You can also listen to the article wherever you listen to podcasts via Anchor. Two other options are Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Or you can watch it in video essay form on YouTube thanks to James Treakle:

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