1: America Has More Than Enough Wealth For Us All

More Than Enough

Launching January 15.
Mia Birdsong first heard about the concept of Guaranteed Income in the mid-90s through the 1967 writings of Martin Luther King Jr. King. He asserted that “the time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty” by providing a basic level of material well-being to allow all Americans to truly flourish. Birdsong thought it sounded "absurd.” As Birdsong notes, "Free money went against everything I'd learned about being a respectable citizen. But people change and our ideas evolve. I no longer think guaranteed income is absurd.”
After years of political education and activism, Birdsong came to reject some ideas that most of us believe: that having a job makes you a whole person, and that you have to earn the things we all deserve to live a good life.
From The Nation, More Than Enough is a four-episode podcast hosted by Birdsong that explores the concept of guaranteed income, or "universal basic income," through conversations with the experts, people who experience poverty in America.
We invite you to listen to these under-explored conversations with Americans about Universal Basic Income: what it is, what it means, and what it says about a culture that so closely correlates deservedness with work. Join Birdsong as she explores the idea of the meaning of work, of inequality, and most importantly, of what America is and what it can be. More Than Enough launches January 15.
Sign up for updates at thenation.com/morethanenough.
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Show Notes

• Guaranteed Income Research Round-up from the Economic Security Project
• Mia Birdsong’s TED Talk “The Story We Tell About Poverty Isn’t True”
• The Insight Center’s Report on Exploring Guaranteed Income Through A Racial And Gender Justice Lens

More Than Enough was developed by Next River Productions. Created and hosted by Mia Birdsong. Audio engineering and music by Nino Moschella. Script development and production by Allison Cook. The content of this podcast was informed by the stories of hundreds of people across the country, only some of whom you heard from. Thank you to everyone who took the time to speak with me and share their story.
Support for the production of More Than Enough was provided by a few generous folks and the Economic Security Project, an organization advancing cash-based interventions in the United States and reigning in corporate monopolies.
More Than Enough is a project of The Nation Magazine.
Mia Birdsong photo by Nye' Lyn Tho.