I think what the younger generations need is a new Big Idea. It has to be better than anything any ideology has to offer. The present social/political crisis in the West is the inadequacies of all ideologies being exposed.

Here is a candidate for that new Big Idea: an allotted income. I imagine that sounds anti-climactic, but keep reading and I promise you’ll be astonished. [For the record I am the author of this idea; if it matters, I do have an M.A. in economics.]

The idea of an allotted income is utterly non-ideological. It can be grafted onto the existing economy; it does not require tearing down even one piece of the existing institutional structure.

Implementing an allotted income would make the economy self-regulating while providing the means to eliminate unemployment and poverty — at no cost to anyone, without having to redistribute anything. The same process could be used to fund all government and eliminate all taxes and public debt. Sustainability would be increased, even without additional regulations or changes in behavior, because total output would be governed, passively but effectively, by demographics.

The money for the allotted income would be created as needed. So, unlike a UBI, it would be free. The total of that income would form the supply of money (as currency) for the economy. To prevent inflation money would have to be returned to its point of origin, but people and businesses could retain plenty of money (proportional to income) and no money would be collected from any person or business before it could be used for purchases or investment.

The allotted income would not be paid to everyone, but it would be available for an unlimited number of people, so it would be a guaranteed minimum income for all citizens. (A legal minimum wage for non-citizens would be a separate issue — one I personally would support.) The amount of the allotted income would be based on the current median income, so here in the U.S., say, $15/hr.; $600/wk. — without any taxes, the equivalent of at least $20/hr. $800/wk. currently.

An allotted income could be instituted with a single Act of Congress. (A person could run for Congress with this idea as one’s economic platform.)

It is summarized in a “5 min read” here in Medium.

Be a leader! At a minimum, tell your friends. This idea needs advocates.

Full disclosure: “allotted income” is another name for a “democratically distributed income” (DDI). It is still non-ideological because the ethic of justice from which the requirement for such an income follows is itself non-ideological. That ethic contains no beliefs, but follows from observation within material existence. That’s why it is non-ideological.

That approach to justice is also summarized in a “5 min read” here.