https://scottsantens.substack.com/p/dolly-parton-basic-income
"Dolly Parton died today at 80.
You’ve probably already seen the tributes pouring in, the greatest hits, the
rhinestones, the Jolene memes, the Whitney Houston story, and all of that is
real, and all of it matters. But I want to honor her by writing about something
Dolly did that most people still don’t fully appreciate, something that should
reshape how we think about helping people in their greatest time of need.
She gave people money. Unconditionally. No bureaucrats deciding what they
were allowed to spend it on. No means-testing. No paternalism. Just cash,
because she trusted that they knew their own lives better than anyone else.
“I always count my blessings more than I count my money,” she once said. “I
don’t work for money, never did.” But she understood what money means to people
who don’t have enough of it. She understood that when everything you own has
burned to the ground, the last thing you need is someone deciding for you what
help looks like. What you need is the
freedom to decide for yourself. You
need money."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
