Abstract

Few ideas have the potential of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) to address some deep systemic injustices. However, the way both the left and right frame the concept very often reduces it to an incremental tweak to welfare systems, which undermines its systemic potential right out of the gate. We intervened to try and popularize a more radical, systemic logic in the way UBI is understood and discussed.

The UBI conversation was small and concentrated among activists, policy commentators, economists and already engaged influencers. The boundaries of the UBI narrative can be seen in this snapshot: It’s largely theoretical, elite, not realistic, and not part of everyday people’s lives.

Messages in the active UBI conversation did not diffuse out into a broader audience base. An echo chamber effect kept the conversation from transcending its Northern, male, specialist domain. The ideas were flowing largely between a small, closed set of participants, already familiar with and influential in defining the conversation.

Policy, welfare, income only from labor — these frames pervade the conversation. They carry negative connotations of bureaucracy, unfairness and lack of ambition. UBI stays in the grip of an old and predictable narrative: the Western narrative of capitalism as the natural global economic system. How could it be, after all, that a liveable, dignified income is a birthright individuals have simply for existing?

The dominant narrative of UBI was stuck in a logic that is policy-centric and individualistic. The power of a dominant narrative is its ability to define the boundaries of what’s possible. So when we hear UBI, concepts of individual benefit, fairness and distribution minutiae are activated. The vision of UBI is one of a bureaucratic. convoluted, inadequate and non-transformative social welfare program.

We started to explore whether or not we could break open these cognitive traps and open up space for an engaging, imaginative logic of UBI. If the dominant narrative has an individualistic logic, we must create a community-centric vision. If the dominant narrative boxes UBI in at the policy level, we must infuse big questions about work, creativity and what’s possible in a world where our basic needs are met just because we are alive.

This led us to a meme campaign infused with new messages surrounding UBI – #ImagineUBI.  We crafted messages to amplify the transformative power of UBI as a cultural narrative of abundance. Framing UBI as part of a post-capitalist, progressive future encourages the audience to imagine that future for themselves. UBI becomes part of an inspirational story, rather than staying bound up in the current system. 

The second phase of our strategy was to help promote a living alternative of UBI. After about six months of initial research, we decided to partner with Circles, a politically-aligned, radical blockchain-based UBI prototype, to create a narrative and visual identity, and to develop creative content supporting the transformative, truly community-driven economic engine. 

Using the insights from the Culture Hacking work, we infused the new UBI core logics into the DNA of Circles, co-creating a platform that captures the imagination and serves UBI as part of a broader vision for a trust-based money system.

 You can read more at: www.joincircles.net

Lessons