Basic Income Guarantee Your Right to Economic Security

Can the U.S. afford a Basic Income Guarantee (BIG)? In 1983, Sheahen published Guaranteed Income: The Right To Security. Today, with the constant conversation about the role of the US Government and how it should be handling debt problems and welfare programs, this question is one among many in need of reexamination.

A BIG is the unconditional government-ensured guarantee that all citizens will have enough income to meet their basic needs without a work requirement. Reading about BIG can be confusing since the topic's terms are used in different ways by different people. In Basic Income Guarantee, Sheahen uses his expertise to delve into pressing issues and questions such as why we should adopt a BIG, if everyone has the right to BIG, and if a BIG would even work. In easy-to-understand language, Sheahen answers these and many more questions, as well as updates the statistics from his break-through 1983 work.

Allan Sheahen is the author of Guaranteed Income: The Right to Economic Security, which was published in 1983. In 2005, Sheahen co-authored, with Karl Widerquist, The Tax Cut for the Rest of Us Act, the first true guaranteed income bill ever introduced in the U.S. Congress. Sheahen is a committee member of the U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network (USBIG) and he has spoken at each of its annual conferences since 2002. He is also a member of the international Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) and has presented papers at several of its biennial conferences. He has volunteered in the USA's VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program in Los Angeles, and he is the domestic group leader in the San Fernando Valley of RESULTS, a national non-profit organization working to end hunger and poverty at home and abroad.

1. Introduction: It's Time to Think BIG
2. So What's the BIG Idea?
3. Why Did We Lose the War on Poverty?
4. Did You Know?
5. Why Are Jobs Not the Answer?
6. Why Is There So Much Inequality in the United States?
7. How Do Other Countries Handle Economic Security?
8. Why Should the U.S. Adopt a Basic Income Guarantee?
9. Is a Basic Income Guarantee Moral?
10. Why Should I Work to Support Welfare Chiselers?
11. Why Not Guarantee Everyone a Job?
12. Why Not Try Other Programs?
13. Can the U.S. Afford a Basic Income Guarantee?
14. Will a Basic Income Guarantee Work?
15. Has the Basic Income Guarantee Ever Been Tested?
16. What About the Work Ethic?
17. What Will Life Be Like Under a Basic Income Guarantee?
18. Will a Basic Income Guarantee Threaten Democracy?
19. How Is a Basic Income Guarantee Administered?
20. What's Happening with BIG Around the World?
21. Can America be Convinced?
22. Realistically, What Are the Chances for a BIG in the US?
Appendix A. The Cost of a Basic Income Guarantee
Appendix B. Current Social Welfare Programs
Appendix C. A Brief History of a Basic Income Guarantee
Appendix D. Alternate Forms of a Basic Income Guarantee
Appendix E. Resources
Appendix F. Suggested Reading