Plight of a tax payer

Couple of days before the 74th Independence day, our Honorable Prime Minister launched "Transparent Taxation" portal- a modern and progressive initiative for Income tax payers of the country. He appreciated the contribution of tax payers and ushered in a free, fair and respectful tax regime. PM said in his address “The new platform, apart from being faceless, is also aimed at boosting the confidence of the taxpayer and making him or her fearless,” he said. This is a welcome step that invigorates the Indian Tax payer- who are only 1% of the population.

Direct (income) Tax has its fair share in the nation building- in rolling out social welfare schemes or augmenting physical and social infrastructures, which helps mitigating the sufferings and deprivations of a sizable population of low income/ under privileged groups. An anonymous (termed as "faceless") digital scrutiny and appeal system with a charter of fair dealing is a sensitive move towards an effective and efficient tax regime which will hopefully become much more tax compliant in near future- thereby strengthening the economy and society at large. 

This progressive milieu gives rise to new expectations. That of inclusion of all stakeholders and accommodating all perspectives, going forward. And in that anticipation we bring to notice one such consideration here: that of a connect between taxation and welfare of taxpayer- for the private sector salaried persons and self employed professionals. While this section (they are significant percentage of total taxpayers) share over 20-30% of their income with the state, throughout the active years of their lives, they do not have any claim or entitlement of social securities at their old age or at the time of need. Govt servants- who also pay taxes- are covered with pension and health cover for self and family, so that they don't have to leave with perennial stress at their old age. Poorer citizens are covered under food security, work guarantee and health coverage even old age pension- justifiably so. The rights & entitlements to the poor are often not of desired quality or quantity but at least it shows the intent of Govt.- its commitment towards the well being of less privileged citizens. A part of this commitment is met from the tax contributions of above tax payers- employees, professionals and small businessmen & women.  But the concerns of these private sector tax payers are yet to find a place in the policies of welfare and related discourses.

This anomaly is pointed out comprehensively in an article of Mr. Rohit Saran, Managing Editor of Times of India (on 30 Jan,2020). Some of his observations are as below:

1) "There are countries with income tax rates higher than India’s but taxpayers in those countries have access to services that have either never existed or have ceased to exist in India. Public education – from school to college – and public healthcare have disappeared from the lives of the urban middle class. Private expenditure on education and health in India is one of the highest in the world."

2) "Income tax payers are forced to pay for clean water, breathable air, private security and – now increasingly – road use in the form of toll. The majority of salary earners are in the private sector, and the tax they pay doesn’t entitle them to pension, unemployment support or post-retirement healthcare. The income tax for this class of people is increasingly becoming a forced charity, alienating them from the state."

3) "Countries with high income tax rates also have a much lower rate of indirect taxes than India. Prices of cars, smart TVs, smartphones, laptops are 20% to 80% lower in most countries with higher income tax rates. A back-of-the envelope calculation shows that the buyer of a mid-level car in India has to pay 58% of his total expenses to government. If he meets with an accident, government is unlikely to bear the cost of his treatment or provide income support if he loses his job."    

 

Saran further observes that "One possible reason income taxpayers are uncared for is that they don’t matter as voters. Only 7% of Indian voters pay income tax. In Norway, 100% and in the US 70% voters are income taxpayers." 

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/indias-much-abused-taxpayers-you-dont-get-much-benefit-back-salaried-classes-get-the-short-end-of-the-stick/

There could be a counter argument. That with our limited resources we need to prioritize.Sure. Perhaps "progressive universalism" starting with the poor is the way to go for a lower middle income country like ours (by World bank classification). By all means. This makes eminent sense, but in reality we see that there are safety nets on the other side of the spectrum too- like the govt. employees who are provided income and health securities or affluent farmers or some esteemed professions who enjoy reliefs and relaxations. But the middle class salaried people in private sectors fall between the cracks. And that is the concern. The absence of any safety net for a particular section of tax payers- who are a very significant portion of tax payers but are an insignificant percentage of voters, is the concern. We can not call this "inclusive" enough- neither can it be called "fair" enough.

Given the new energy and modern outlook of the government, signaled by this recent announcement, we will expect this concern to be addressed at appropriate circles of government's policy discussions and consultations. When government shows due respect to this small section of population ("Honoring the Honest") it wouldn't be out of place to expect that in course of time it will look into their needs and safeguard against distress situations like old age or income/ job loss or health shocks etc.

Thinking and providing for this small section may not be a big load on the exchequer but this will lead to a holistic and seamless system of tax & welfare as a sustainable and equitable society. Perhaps this is time to start some discussions around it- within the govt. and also among the idea champions.     

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“Made in Prison”

Prisons are called correctional homes nowadays. Not for nothing. It is a place where the inmates (convicted or under trial) have a choice to work and live. It is not backbreaking labor or some sort of physical punishment throughout the day as we are made to think. It is rather a place where transformation and rehabilitation is a genuine possibility. A false narrative by popular cinema and literature etc. has led us to this wrong perception…sometimes ridiculously unrealistic. They make no distinction between police “lock-ups” and “jails”- now correctional homes, and portray the limitations and difficulties of a police custody in a generalized way as if Correctional Centres are the same. But reality is different. “Jailors” as they were called in the past are mentors and enablers today.  The officers and staff are agents of change in this place of isolation and confinement- they are no more typical guards and tormentors.

In my current association with Nakshi- a social venture, I recently had an opportunity to meet one inspiring figure- Mr. Arun Gupta, IPS, DG & IG, West Bengal Correctional Services.  As the Chief Officer of West Bengal Correctional Homes and Correctional Services, Sri Gupta emphasized on productive utilization of human resources incarcerated in Correctional Homes of the State. The sick Correctional Home Industries has become rejuvenated through various skill development programmes initiated by him. Besides, he always cares to response to different welfare activities for the prisoners. Different programs under culture therapy have got his active support for mental upliftment of the inmates. Nigel Akara’s story is motivational who is an ex-convict and today a much sought after actor today in Bengal Film and Theatre industries.  He considers Mr. Gupta a mentor in his life.  Mr. Gupta’s fervor and commitment has galvanized many passionate celebrities from different walks of life like Alokananda Roy-iInternationally acclaimed exponent of Indian classical dance, a reformer of souls, renowned designers and social workers etc.

Incubated by Bandhan, Nakshi is committed to reclaim the glories of our indigenous craft heritage and create a sustainable business model that provides a viable livelihood option for the weavers, artisans and grassroots producers. Mr. Gupta came to know about our works and came over to discuss a probable synergy where we can provide the skill and design inputs to the inmates (women and men) in the correctional homes and arrange for market access through our platform. This will give them a regular occupation which is interesting to them as well as pave the way for future rehabilitation and mainstreaming.

We have chalked out plans for this engagement and expect to start working with inmates of Presidency and Women’s correctional homes- both at Alipore, Kolkata, in this month itself. We are both happy and excited about it. But which really struck us more is to see how the Jail authorities have developed working facilities, skills and creative conditions within the prisons and how the inmates have adopted and enjoying this engagement. It is a source of satisfaction for them and also a possible avenue for future rehabilitation in the mainstream of society, post their jail terms.  Even there are learning facilities for under 6 kids (staying with their mothers), computer training facilities…even beauty & wellness training facility! We visited these two prisons in connection with planning the work possibilities there.  Both places looked like a “home” really (obviously the women’s home seemed more homely)- in terms of the internal environment and mutual relationship among the staff, officers and inmates despite the legal and official boundaries. At the same time we could see the products and arts those are “made in prison” but which transcends the “walls” in its quality and creative essence. They are already making food products, oils, utensils as well as making garments, designer wears and paintings which are of excellent standards. This has the potential of larger market acceptance with a purposeful branding possibility like the brand “TJ” (acronym for “Tihar Jail”).

The separation is the “punishment”. But prisons are not meant to perpetuating the punishment. Rather it is a place for making them bounce back- the senior officials of the prisons told me. My take here is when the authorities is so understanding and trying best to fill them with positive attitude and skills, we as common citizens and free members of the society should make space for them. Convicts and under trials deserve a fair chance. They need to come back to the mainstream of society wherefrom they were isolated and placed in confinement for correction and rehabilitation. Products and creations those are “made in prison” tell us that story...  

Trilogy of Courage, Care and Compassion: The THP Way

We at Bandhan run a holistic assistance program for the poorest of poor in the society. It identifies the most needy women headed families through rural appraisal, supports them with productive assets, provides livelihood and confidence building training, connects them to village mainstream, build social capitals for them. With the instilling of hope and dignity with continuous hand-holding on livelihood and range of other interventions, it is remarkable to see that such marginalised families, headed by women, graduate out of extreme poverty in 2 years and undertake stable livelihood options successfully. This graduation program called Targeting the Hardcore Poor (THP) program is a proven, evidence based model hailed in international circuits. It’s now a talking point at various policy circles if this can be a sustainable pathway out of extreme poverty.

For us who work in this program, it is a great opportunity that we can be of assistance to these most disadvantaged families in their journey from helplessness to self-reliance. We are glad that we have this kind of a job role where one can contribute positively in changing lives of many who are less privileged than us. But actually it is much more than that. While we think we are transforming their lives, the grit, love and empathy we see in these women change us. We discover the treasure of human capabilities and values they possess. They are income poor, opportunity poor but very rich in social and moral values. It is a blessing for us to work with them which instils in us the faith on human qualities manifest even in the face of extreme adversity. Here are three journies of three women which we believe you will find inspirational and transformational:

 

A Tale of Courage: Anarbanu to Abeda, Breaking the Mould:

Eleven years back we started our THP Program in the District of Murshidabad of West Bengal as a pilot. A small team of extremely passionate and energetic young men led by a seasoned development professional with equal amount of energy and passion started this arduous journey under the visionary guidance of our Founder Sri Chandra Sekhar Ghosh. But the journey was far from smooth. Religious mistrust came in the way. The villages where we were working have predominance of a minority community. And due to misconception and rumour mongering, they took our efforts to provide assets to the selected women as a ploy to conversion into other religion! There was collective resistance. No one would come forward to take those asset grants. There was one village Sutighata where the entire village refused. Some declined to accept the assets and some, after receiving, brought it back to return. The program was not going anywhere and we were almost at the point of giving up on that village.

But Anarbanu was an exception. A frail middle aged lady with three children and having no stable means of livelihood, reached out to us and said “Whatever others think or say, I have faith in your program and I will participate in it. Come what may.” She took paddy husking as the income generating enterprise and came over to our office for the first round of training. This invigorated our team and they started with renewed energy with Anarbanu as the sole participant of our program in that village. Anarbanu not only sincerely followed the advice from our team but showed exemplary grit and alacrity to quickly learn the skills of enterprise running as well as availed the linkages established by our team. This slowly convinced others to come forward and ultimately we could distribute assets to all the selected beneficiaries.

I met Anarbanu a few years later. By then she had graduated from the program. She was again one of the first few who ventured to take micro loan to expand her enterprise, post the THP programme. When I met her she said: “Everyone advised me not to take loan, but I did not listen…I have seen and believed what you are doing.” She is such an amazing example of courage and determination- one who breaks the stereotypes and welcomes the change. We spoke about her family, daughters education and so on- general discussions. She said she wants her daughter to do work like ours- to help others come out of despair, to take it as a profession. We casually said when your daughter becomes a graduate she should join Bandhan THP team. And you know what? Anarbanu brought her daughter Abeda to our office immediately after she completed her college. And now Abeda is working in Pakur, Jharkhand as a Community Organiser in our THP program.

 

A Tale of Care and Concern: Farida Re-building a Home

When I first saw Farida Bibi five years back, as part of program field visit, she didn’t appear to be a “fast mover” among our program participants. There were others who have done better after receiving the asset support in terms of generating income and assets. However, this humble lady left an impression due to her care for the elderly and young in the family. Farida’s husband had left her couple of years back. When our THP team selected her for the THP program, she didn’t show much promise. She didn’t have any specific trade skills and was too burdened with five dependent members in the family. She opted for fire-woods as assets! There was a demand in the locality for fire-woods for cooking and she started selling those. One year into the program, she was doing moderately fine and it was a regular source of income in addition to odd jobs and some livestock. She has been looking for her husband but in vain. I couldn’t give her much hope, encouraged her to continue with her enterprise and not allow her children to drop out of school.

While returning I came to know from my colleagues that her husband’s sudden departure was not the usual story we expect: that of another irresponsible drunkard male of low income families fleeing from responsibilities. No he was not that typical image we have in our mind. He was a good tailor but had taken large sums on loan from neighbours and community. Unfortunately his calculations proved to be wrong and he couldn’t earn enough to repay those loans. And in the fear of being hounded by the lenders, he left home, all of a sudden. Perhaps to save himself…perhaps he assumed at least people will not trouble a helpless lady with kids and elderly in-laws. This proved to be right somewhat. In our Participatory Rural Appraisal meetings in that village, community identified Farida as a potential candidate for the THP program. People are not that bad every time to every person. People do care for the hapless.

Farida carried on with the small enterprise she had and gradually became a successful “graduate” candidate of THP program. End of story? Not in the least.

After couple of years I had been to that village again, with some visitors. And one success case we were shown was Farida! We saw that Farida and her husband are working together making garments for the wholesale market in Kolkata. They had purchased couple of sewing machines and engaged others in the work. The elder daughter was completing her schooling and her siblings were studying in the school. Her father in law had passed away but mother in law was staying with them. Prosperity, happiness and harmony in the family were evident.

What Farida did in these 2-3 years is the real story. Exemplary and inspiring. When there was some stability in the family, Farida started to look for her husband more energetically. And one day she came to know where he was staying. It was in a different district where he was working in a small garment factory. Farida went to the factory one day. She was not allowed inside. But she didn’t lose heart. She sat there- near the factory gate throughout the day and when her husband came out after factory hours, she approached her and told him “Let’s go home”. Farida’s husband, as we had learnt earlier, was not a bad person who would desert the family but he had the fear of inability to repay the loans in his village. He said “How can I go back? They will chase me for the dues.” Farida replied “I will repay the loans, you come back with me. To your family, to your home.” Husband saw a new found confidence in Farida and agreed to come back. In the THP program we create village committees in every village as a community guardianship to our THP members. The village committee gave them assurance that no one will hurt them, they can take some more time to repay the outstanding loans. And there began a new journey for the couple. They started garment making and as the husband knew the trade and had requisite skills, soon they started getting orders. Slowly their business started growing and they enhanced production capacity by introducing more machines and manpower. My second visit to them was at that point in time.

But it’s not a story about happy ending. What touched us the most is Farida’s love and care for the entire family. She not only endured extreme hardship, but in the midst of that didn’t give up on those human values. She took care of the ageing in laws, maintained her children’s education and most spectacularly brought back her husband and reunited the family.

A Tale of Compassion: Marjina Rising above the Small and Obvious

Marjina Bewa, aged about 55 years, lives in the Village Dadpur, Block Baruipur, Dist. South 24-parganas, West Bengal.  As it happens with most girls in poor families, she was married off early and married into poverty. Husband was an agricultural wage labourer.  When they had two sons and they were growing up gradually it was becoming more and more difficult to run the family on the meagre income of the husband. It was far from “two square meals a day”. Children slept with half-empty stomach and dried up tears on their cheeks. Marjina had only water for the dinner. It is then she decided to join her husband in the field so that their joint income would perhaps improve the situation somewhat. And it did. Somewhat…..

It’s the usual story of a very poor family in rural Bengal. Like thousands of such stories. Not exciting enough, not “cool” enough to come in printed article. They were destined to doom. And sure, it was going like that. Until one day when a strange incident happened. Marjina was collecting firewood near a forest land. Suddenly she heard a baby crying. She looked around and found a new born baby, wrapped in clothes, abandoned. She took the child back to the village and looked for its parents. No one came forward. No one seemed interested. The kid was unwanted….  

Marjina decided to adopt him. She said “I am a mother, how can I not take care of this child…even if it’s not my biological one”.  And hence she had her third son “Jahangir”. But this didn’t bring any luck to the family. Rather this additional member was an additional mouth to feed. Her husband fell ill and became bedridden. Eldest son got married and started living at his in-law’s place, leaving his parents. Next son got married also but stayed with parents. But his income was low. Marjina started working as domestic help to supplement the family income. But despite the penury and hardship she admitted the youngest son Jahangir into school.

As luck would have it, at this most troubled time Marjina’s husband died. She along with the family of her middle son got into more hardship. At this near destitution point our THP program team at Baruipur came to know about Marjina and included her in the program.  She got some asset support to start trading of garments in the village. And of course other assistances like training, capacity building, community guardianship, entitlements and so on. Marjina started dreaming her dreams again. With the small capital she started trading with ladies garments bought from the wholesale market in Kolkata. Sold it door-to-door.  In her village and neighbouring ones. Her hardwork resulted in growth of her business gradually. And prosperity smiled upon them finally. Today she earns about Rs. 9000 a month. The mud hut has been replaced    by a two bed-roomed frugal but pukka house. They have started rearing ducks, chicken, cows and goats in the household. Her income, added with her middle son’s income (though meager), covers all the needs of the family. There is smile in everyone’s face.

Did you think we forgot Jahangir? Not at all. He is one central character in the story.  Jahangir completed his elementary schooling and now doing apprenticeship in wood craft designing. And Marjina showed us what is called selfless empathy.

We generally refer to the recipient of program support as beneficiaries. Such stories make us think who the actual beneficiary is? Are we not benefiting from these experiences and lessons from life that changes our perspective and elevates our souls? Are we not beneficiaries too? 

And this is the magic of a program like THP where all involved are transformed.   

The Last Leaf

THE LAST LEAF -AN UNFINISHED ELEGY BY DEBMALYA RAY CHOUDHURI

HOW MANY SPECIES OF PLANTS ARE THERE IN THE UNIVERSE? SCIENTISTS HAVE PREDICTED TO BE A NUMBER JUST SHY OF 400,000 AND A LARGE PROPORTION OF THAT NUMBER IS ENDANGERED OR ARE ALREADY EXTINCT.

HOW MANY OF US BELONG TO HOMO SAPIENS, OR AT LEAST CALL OURSELVES HUMANS? THE NUMBER IS MORE THAN 7 BILLION AND IT IS ON THE RISE. THE VEGETATION IS DWINDLING FAST ON OUR PLANET, THANKS TO OUR INSATIABLE DESIRE OF OVER CONSUMPTION AND EXPLOITING OUR MOTHER EARTH.

Is this what we envisage? Have we become so blithe in our approach towards life that we have started taking nature for granted? The Last Leaf shapes our lost vision by presenting all that could be left if we continue to give in to our illusions of more want. It is a psychological journey of fallen, withered, trampled down, plucked leaves taken across different regions of the world across the background of man-made structures of gravel, concrete and the naturally occurring soil. It has been developed digitally using the approach of an early photography process which gives a tarnished and faded look to the leaves. These abstracts of leaves lying motionless on the ground with a somber calm makes us wary of our own uncertain future. This is an archival long-term work which is also to be presented as a zine and an installation.

This also has another deep-seated meaning for us. As a man, one is always intrigued by the forms, textures, and colors of leaves, so diverse they are that they remind us of our own diversity. The repetition in the narrative has been used to reflect this notion. What is magical is that they are one of the building elements of a plant, nourish it and help it grow as well. If we as humans can also build a positive ecosystem devoid of ego and differences, how wonderful would the world be. To let go of the hatred and embrace the diversity to help each other grow as a race. Is this too much to ask for? These are questions that we need to introspect for all the answers lie within us. Death of these leaves is synonymous to the death of the human body too. What do we want to be remembered as? Who do we want to be remembered as?

ABOUT DEBMALYA RAY CHOUDHURI

Debmalya Ray Choudhuri (b. 1992) is a writer, visual artist and documentary story teller from India currently based in New York. He sees the visual medium as a reflection of his soul and portrays the world according to his own interpretation. He has published his work in magazines and platforms in India like Better Photography India, Inspiro India, Asian Photography magazine, etc and also international publications on The Guardian, The BBC, The Telegraph UK, Nat Geo, Invisible Photographer Asia, MonoVisions, contemporary art platforms like Phroom magazine, Feature Shoot, Lensculture. He has displayed across the country and abroad like Blank Wall gallery, Athens, India Habitat Center, Focas Photo festival Scotland, Edinburgh Napier University, Rochester Fringe Festival,etc. He also received several awards in the course of his ongoing journey, notable ones being honorable mentions in Neutral Density Awards 2016, International Photographer of the Year 2016, International Photography Awards(IPA), Sony World Photo Awards 2016.  He believes that true happiness comes with an honest intent. He has tried to maintain that through his work, which is often shaped by the experiences that he has had: his images are often dark and mysterious and then at other times, soaked in reverie. He was awarded as emerging photographer from Calcutta by Prafulla Dahanukar Art Foundation, Mumbai and has also been part of national art residencies with the Piramal Foundation, Mumbai. He was a part of a contemporary art movement across India called The Narrative Arts movement (2017).He was also selected for the prestigious mentorship program of Invisible Photographer Asia and now wants to carry on and explore his vision further on his long-term projects apart from the commissioned work. [Official website]

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reproduced from a publication by Debmalya in Dodho Magazine

Eyes that want to glow, lives that want to spread wings...

Writes visual artist and storyteller Debmalya Ray Choudhuri in the Edge of Humanity Magazine. Debmalya is the contributor of this social documentary photography.  This and other images in the magazine are from his project ‘A Different World’.

Debmalya is my son. He also studies Sustainable Engineering...

Future in the eyes of future citizens

A Perfect World

August 31, 2017The Levelfield School

 

 

 

 

 

 

57 Votes

This is a story written by Bhau, Motu and Koka of Class X (2017).

I open my eyes as the room gets progressively brighter. Slowly, the soft tune of Beethoven fills up the room. The lights switch on as I enter the bathroom. As I brush, notifications from Facebook and Twitter pop up on my mirror. I dismiss them, only to be confronted by news.

As I browse through the news, I see that almost half of Australia is underwater. An advertisement of the latest government-sponsored virtual reality game pops up on my mirror. The government of all nations of the world is now controlled by three large technological corporations. Gone are the days of democracy and politicians.

My refrigerator beeps and reminds me to update its software by the end of this week. It also tells me that after the latest update I would no longer have the option to manually refill the contents in the fridge. It will automatically monitor the quantities and my preferences, and order supplies directly from the online vendor.

I have been putting off this update for a long time, but now it seems it cannot be postponed any more. One of my last bastions of free will – the fridge which I could still fill up according to my wish – will go.

“According to your health app recommendation, you are prescribed a breakfast of 150 gram of oatmeal, milk and one egg-white,” informs Dos, my robot assistant, putting me out of my reverie.

“I want to have coffee”, I reply.

“You have already violated health app recommendations twice this month. You are not allowed a third violation. That will cut off your refrigerator supplies for two days.”

“Ok, whatever you suggest, then.” I reluctantly agree.

The large screen on my wall lights up and prompts me to play the latest civilisation game. I ignore it. I hear government regulations will soon make it impossible to ignore the instructions of the screen. But let’s enjoy the last bit of freedom till it lasts.

***

As I go near the door, it unlocks automatically. I can see an Autocar waiting outside. The days of taxis with drivers are long past. The Autocar does not have any driver. It is also connected a central network, which knows my location and the locations of millions of other people and vehicles. It effortlessly drives me to work, and I notice that that the temperature is set to 26º, exactly as I want it.

I stand in front of my office door and it opens instantly after scanning my iris. The door opens and I walk to my cubicle. The office seems empty now; a lot of my juniors have been replaced by Mycroft, an intelligent data analyst developed by our company. During breaks, the office seems eerily quiet, in contrast to the lively conversations that previously dominated the office at those hours. I wonder how long I will last in this office given the rate at which Mycroft’s abilities are increasing.

Even before I get started with my work a voice in my cubicle summons me to my boss’ office. Fearing the worst, I walk into the office feeling scared. The solemn expression on my boss’ face reaffirms my fears.

“Shounak, take a seat.”

I comply, not able to come up with an alternative suggestion.

“You must have noticed that many of your colleagues and juniors have been let go, their jobs taken over by Mycroft.”

It is a fact that I cannot deny, so I nod.

“I am sorry, but we have to let you go. The new version of Mycroft can do your job, faster and better than you.”

I nod again. Another irrefutable fact. Even though I knew this day was coming, it was difficult to cope with it. A part of me refused to believe that this was happening.

“There is nothing to worry about. The government’s unemployment benefit schemes will take complete care of you. You will not have to worry about anything. In fact, many of your colleagues like their new life, their needs are taken care of and they have a lot of free time as well. You will like it.”

“Yeah, I might”, I say, not feeling as confident as I sounded.

In fact, the more I thought about it, the worse it felt. Until now, I had some misguided sense of pride for not being one of the millions, a jobless commoner who simply plays games and looks at the government-sponsored screens all day. I felt that I was making some real contribution to the world but alas, that pride was not to last. I was finally rendered useless by ones and zeros.

Dejected, I return to my cubicle. How am I going to spend everyday doing nothing? At some point, I longed for weekends and holidays, to have some leisure time. Now holidays and weekends don’t seem so attractive anymore. There’s a lot on my mind right now, and all I need is a drink.

***

The Claude’s was close by so I decided to walk. I was going to the bar for a drink but what I truly needed was a companion. Work and my virtual assistant, Dos, had somehow compensated for the lack of interaction with other human beings. But today I needed someone, another human being, to listen to me.

I walk into the bar and sit down for a drink. The long desk in front of me is a screen. As I sit down a part of the desk lights up offering me a choice of drinks. I choose a vodka martini and the dispenser below the screen opens up, drinks get mixed in a glass that appears, and it is put in front of me, on my table.

The bar is mostly empty except for a few people who are staring away at their screens. I pick up my martini and walk towards a woman of my age who looks a bit bored.

“Are you busy?”

“No.”

“Can I sit here?”

“Yeah, feel free.”

“I am Shounak. What’s your name?”

“Oh! Hi, I am Eva.”

“So Eva, are you here all by yourself?”

“Huh…? You were saying something?”

“Are you here all by yourself?”

“Yeah, you could say so.”

“So, what do you do?”

“Me? Nothing really. I just stay at home and play games all day long.”

My curiosity is piqued. How does it feel to waste every day playing mindless games?

“How do you feel just playing games all day? Don’t you get bored?”

“Huh…? What? You were saying something?”

“Forget it. Having a conversation with you is like having a conversation with a toaster. How can you spend your whole day playing games and still not get bored of looking at the screen? Don’t you like real things anymore? A real person, a real conversation?”

“Whatever.”

***

Thoroughly disenchanted with Eva I decided to leave Claude’s. I request one more drink, but the screen refuses it, pointing out that my blood alcohol levels are high already.  I return home, angry and annoyed. It is after returning home that I realise my original intention of communicating my feelings with someone has remain unfulfilled. I still wanted to talk to someone, to tell her about my anguish, to communicate my anxieties.

It was then that a stupid idea struck my mind, and like most stupid ideas it seemed smart at that point. I thought that maybe Dos could be that companion I was looking for all this while. Maybe I could communicate my feelings to Dos.

“Hey Dos, I just got fired from my job today.”

“You have nothing to worry about, sir. The unemployment benefit will take care of you.”

“But how will I spend my time?”

“Here are a few government prescribed suggestions of what you can do when you are unemployed.”

“No, no, not the government prescribed ones. I know I can play virtual reality games, spend time on the treadmill, watch the screen for media feeds. I am not talking about those.”

“What sort of suggestions are you looking for, then?”

“How can I do something meaningful?”

“What do you mean by ‘meaningful’?”, Dos asks innocently, unaware of the irony.

“Like work, for example. Something that utilizes my abilities.”

“I don’t understand, sir. You will have to do no work, but you still get the same benefits from the state. Are you looking for anything more than that?”

This is frustrating. How can I make him understand that beyond food, shelter and comfort, we also want to be understood? We want to talk to real people, do real work. Or is it only me? Nobody else seems to feel the need for anything real any more.

I wish I could turn back the clock, and bring the wheels of time to a stop. I wish I could go back to my childhood, when I had real friends all around me, not virtual screens. I wish I could go back to the world which was a little less perfect, little less efficient than this. A world where frustration was more commonplace than vacuous contentment.

I wish I could break all these smart screens on my walls. May be, behind all of them, there will be a door. A magical door to go back to the past.

https://medium.com/basic-income/its-time-to-shift-the-economy-into-fourth-gear-capitalism-with-basic-income-f13e0d6ec057

Using a microscope fitted to a bellows camera, Wilson Alwyn Bentley was the first to photograph a single snowflake. http://met.org/2eAdK4e 

Humanity Needs Universal Basic Income in Order to Stop Impeding Progress

 04/05/2016 01:24 pm ET | Updated Apr 05, 2016

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Scott Santens Writer and basic income advocate

I believe Richard Feynman was one of our greatest scientific minds. He had a very particular way of looking at the world thanks to his father, and it was to look at the world around him as if he were a Martian. Like a fish born into water, it’s hard to actually see water as being water, because it’s all a fish ever knows. And so as humans, it’s a good idea to try and step outside of our usual frame of mind, to see what it is we as humans think and do, from the perspective of a mind totally alien to our everyday environment. With that in mind, here’s what humans are doing right now, from the perspective of someone from far, far away...

What an interesting place and an interesting time it is for a visit. Earth’s most intelligent primates are busy creating technologies that allow them all to do less work, freeing themselves from millennia of senseless toil and drudgery. Strangely, however, they are using such technologies to force each other to work longer and harder. In one area called the United States, responsible for so much of the world’s technological innovation, at a time when productivity has never been higher, the number of hours spent working for others in exchange for the means to live is now just shy of 50 hours per week, where it was once 40 and soon supposed to be 20 on its way to eventually approaching zero.

Humans are even performing work that doesn’t actually need to be done at all, even by a machine. One of the craziest examples of such completely unnecessary work is in Europe where an entire fake economic universe has been created under the label of “Potemkin companies“ like Candelia.

Candelia was doing well. Its revenue that week was outpacing expenses, even counting taxes and salaries... but in this case the entire business is fake. So are Candelia’s customers and suppliers, from the companies ordering the furniture to the trucking operators that make deliveries. Even the bank where Candelia gets its loans is not real. More than 100 Potemkin companies like Candelia are operating today in France, and there are thousands more across Europe... All these companies’ wares are imaginary.

Incredibly, human beings are waking up early in the mornings to drive to offices to perform imaginary business in imaginary markets involving imaginary customers using imaginary money to buy imaginary goods and services instead of simply enjoying their non-imaginary and most definitely real lives with each other.

Another example of humans coming up with excuses for more work, which may come as a surprise, is actually firefighting, which thanks to technology has been fighting fewer and fewer fires:

On highways, vehicle fires declined 64 percent from 1980 to 2013. Building fires fell 54 percent during that time. When they break out, sprinkler systems almost always extinguish the flames before firefighters can turn on a hose. But oddly, as the number of fires has dropped, the ranks of firefighters have continued to grow — significantly. There are half as many fires as there were 30 years ago, but about 50 percent more people are paid to fight them.

How can this be? If there are far fewer fires, why are there far more firefighters? The short answer is because of something called labor unions, who at some point just up and stopped fighting to reduce hours worked. But why? The reason labor unions now fight so hard to keep humans laboring is because humans require each other to work in order to obtain the resources required to live happy lives, or even to live at all for that matter.

Here lies the greatest obstacle to human progress — the longstanding connection between work and income. As long as everything is owned and the only way to obtain access to that which is owned is through money, and the only way to obtain money is to be born with it or through doing the bidding of someone who owns enough to do the ordering around — what humans call a “job” — then jobs can’t be eliminated. As a worker, any attempt to eliminate jobs must be fought and as a business owner, the elimination of jobs must involve walking a fine line between greater efficiency and public outcry. The elimination of vast swathes of jobs must be avoided unless seen as absolutely necessary so as to avoid angering too many people who may also be customers.

Here lies the greatest obstacle to human progress — the longstanding connection between work and income.

Nowhere is the above more clear than in two recent pieces of news: Google’s announcement that Boston Dynamics is up for sale, and Johnson & Johnson’s announcement that the Sedasys machine would be discontinued.

Atlas Shrugged Off by Google

You probably already saw it, as over ten million others did within days of it being posted to YouTube, but the demonstration video of the new version of Atlas from the robotics team at Boston Dynamics was a stunning display of engineering that shocked the world. Similar to the victory of the AI AlphaGo over world champion human Go player Lee Sedol just weeks later, it dumbfounded people with the realization of how quickly technology is advancing.

People naturally saw with their own eyes how close they are to having robots fully capable of doing physical tasks previously thought to be decades down the road, and the result was a discussion sprinkled with more than a bit of human panic based in entirely legitimate fears of income insecurity. This ended up being a discussion Google had no interest in, and so Boston Dynamics is now up for sale. To be fair, Google already wanted to sell BD, but leaked emails do show the concerns of negative PR as a direct result of advanced robotics:

In yet more emails wrongly published to wider Google employees, Courtney Hohne, a spokeswoman for Google X, wrote: “There’s excitement from the tech press, but we’re also starting to see some negative threads about it being terrifying, ready to take humans’ jobs ... We’re not going to comment on this video because there’s really not a lot we can add, and we don’t want to answer most of the questions it triggers.”

Google wants to advance technology but at the same time, it doesn’t want to answer the questions those advancements will raise. This appears to be a clear example of a major obstacle for human progress. It’s the same likely reason companies like McDonald’s haven’t dived in with both feet to greatly automate their operations and vastly reduce their labor forces. The technology exists, but they aren’t doing it. Why?

Perhaps it’s because as long as people need jobs as their sole source of income, companies have the potential of stepping onto a public relations landmine by automating their jobs out of existence, or being seen as responsible for others doing so. Eliminating jobs also means not only cutting employees, but demand itself.

Putting humans out of work should be a public relations win, not a loss...

Putting humans out of work should be a public relations win, not a loss, and so mankind needs to make sure no one left without a job, for any amount of time, is ever unable to meet their most basic needs. Everyone needs a non-negotiable guarantee of income security, so that the elimination of jobs breeds not fear, but excitement. The loss of a job should be seen as an opportunity for new real choices. And so some amount of basic income should be guaranteed to everyone — universally — as a starting point upon which all can earn additional income.

However, negative PR is just one obstacle along the road to full automation. Another obstacle is something originally devised to make sure employed humans had some amount of bargaining power, so as to not be walked all over by those who employed them, and that’s the forces of organized labor. In an unfortunate turn of events, that which once helped drive prosperity is beginning to hold it back. Organized labor is organizing to perpetuate the employment that tech labor is working to eliminate.

Source: TechCrunch

Organized labor in the form of taxi driver unions have set cars on fire in France in protest of the labor disruptions created by Uber. Fast food workers in the US are busy organizing new unions, the goal of which is not to make sure fast food restaurants heavily invest in automation to free them from such work. None of this however compares to what an organized group of anesthesiologists just did.

Doctors Pulling Plugs

The American Society of Anesthesiologists just killed the first machine to come along capable of eliminating a great deal of need for anesthesiologists — the Sedasys. It was a machine not only capable of performing the same work, but at one-tenth the cost. It was a machine that some innovative humans invented to make becoming healthier far less costly for all humans, over 90% less costly in fact. And another group of humans saw that as competition so they pressed the abort button.

No longer did you need a trained anesthesiologist. And sedation with the Sedasys machine cost $150 to $200 for each procedure, compared to $2,000 for an anesthesiologist, one of healthcare’s best-paid specialties. The machine was seen as the leading lip of an automation wave transforming hospitals. But Johnson & Johnson recently announced it was pulling the plug on Sedasys because of poor sales.

So what caused the poor sales if the device could do so much more for so much less?

Sedasys was never welcomed by human anesthesiologists. Before it even hit the market, the American Society of Anesthesiologists campaigned against it, backing down only once the machine’s potential uses were limited to routine procedures such as colonoscopies. The Post’s story back in May provoked an outpouring of messages from anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetist who claimed a machine could never replicate a human’s care or diligence. Many sounded offended at the notion that a machine could do their job.

The proverbial plug was pulled on a life-saving new technology because a well-paid group of humans saw it in their own best interests to fight against its use to do their work for them.

Pretend for a moment what was invented was a tractor, and the makers of the tractor had to stop making them because of the power of a bunch of oxen who were offended by the claim that tractors could ever replicate an oxen’s care or diligence.

As humans drive forward into the future, they may just have their foot on the brakes and the accelerator at the same time.

Imagine it was an elevator, and the American Society of Elevator Attendants was offended by the idea of everyone simply pushing buttons to operate elevators without the paid help of any attendant. Would all of human society be better off right now with every elevator being operated by a paid attendant?

Or imagine that back in the day, trains were upgraded from coal-based steam engines to today’s diesel engines, and railroad unions fought and won to keep the position of coal-shovelers so that there’d be a job for people on trains doing absolutely nothing for the next 60 years. Believe it or not, that one actually happened.

Such thinking is not progress. It’s regress. Humans have the ideas of work and income so tied up in their minds, that even though they’ve now successfully reached the point where toil is no longer necessary to survive on Earth, they are demanding their toil not be lifted off their shoulders.

Humans are actually demanding that machines not do their work for them. Humans are creating work that does not need to be done, and perhaps worst of all, they are continuing extinction-endangering work like coal mining that should have been stopped decades ago for the good of the species.

Cutting the Cord

To put an end to all this nonsense, it seems in humanity’s best interests to finally sever the self-imposed connection between work and access to the common planetary resources required for life. For as long as humans must toil to live, they will toil for life.

Unemployment is not a disease. It’s the opposite. Employment is the malady and automation is the cure. It is the job of machines to handle as much work for humans as possible, so as to free them to pursue that which each and every individual human being most wishes to pursue. That pursuit may be work or it may be leisure. That pursuit may be knowledge or it may be play. That pursuit may be companionship or it may be solitude. Whatever it may be, the goal is happiness and the pursuit itself self-motivated, the journey its own reward.

So when those like Robert Reich say “There are still a lot of jobs” before suggesting mankind may not yet be ready for universal basic income, but soon most definitely will be, perhaps humans should ask if not having a basic income is actually part of the reason there are any jobs still left for humans. Perhaps it’s the insistence on the existence of jobs that creates jobs, whether they need to exist or not.

As humans drive forward into the future, they may just have their foot on the brakes and the accelerator at the same time. If so, is this in the best interests of humanity? Why not instead stop pressing the brakes by adopting basic income immediately, so as to fully accelerate into an increasingly automated future of increasing abundance and victory over scarcity? That seems to make a lot more sense than perpetuating — and even artificially creating — scarcity.

But then again, these are simply the thoughts of a tourist, in observance of life on the third planet from an average yellow star in a somewhat ordinary spiral galaxy. Pay me little mind if you choose. I’m just passing through on the suggestion this place is incredibly entertaining in all its grand backwardness.

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Want to help? You can take this survey about basic income or sign this petition to the President and Congress for a basic income for all, or donate your time or money to Basic Income Action, a non-profit organization founded to transform basic income from idea to reality. You can also support articles like this by sharing them.

Scott Santens writes about basic income on his blog and is crowdfunding basic incomes on Patreon. You can follow him on Medium, on Twitter, on Facebook or on Reddit where he is a moderator for the /r/BasicIncome community of over 30,000 subscribers.