Can you imagine what your community would accomplish if everyone who lived there had financial security? Would the citizens of that community have the time as well as the mental and emotional space to be more engaged in their community? An engaged community is a community which solves local issues that adversely affect the citizens of that locality. If all communities had this same level of engagement, could we overcome global issues? Finding a solution to poverty and financial insecurity is key to attaining greater community engagement. Universal Basic Income is a solution to poverty and financial insecurity, and ultimately, greater community engagement.

2. Can you imagine what your community would accomplish if everyone
who lived there had financial security? Would the citizens of that
community have the time as well as the mental and emotional space
to be more engaged in their community? An engaged community is a
community which solves local issues that adversely affect the citizens
of that locality. If all communities had this same level of engagement,
could we overcome global issues? Finding a solution to poverty and
financial insecurity is key to attaining greater community engagement.
Universal Basic Income is a solution to poverty and financial insecurity,
and ultimately, greater community engagement.

3. Universal basic income is a government operated program in which
every adult citizen receives a set amount of money on a regular basis.
Every citizen is eligible for this periodic payment. Basic income
programs are a social safety net designed to lessen the effects of
catastrophic financial circumstances. Basic income payments eliminate
financial uncertainty and provide access to new opportunities that were
previously unobtainable for financial reasons. At its most basic form,
UBI provides financial access to the bare essentials a citizen needs to
succeed; shelter, food & clean water.

4. New Mexico has some of the highest rates of poverty in the United
States. Had Universal Basic Income been implemented sooner it would
have saved 373,230 New Mexicans from living in poverty during 2020.
People who are affected by poverty differ in age, gender, and race.
However, they all share the same experience of not having enough in
a country of plenty. This is an issue that every citizen of every country
knows and has experienced. Poverty is relatable on a global scale.
Even if you have not experienced poverty first hand you have seen the
face of it. The implementation of UBI is important to all of us because
of the positive outcomes that will resonate in all areas of local and
global planning.
Click here to see how New Mexico did in 2020

5. https://basicincome.stanford.edu/about/what-is-ubi/

6. The Positives of Universal Basic Income
- Establishes a baseline which keeps
citizens from living in extreme poverty.
- UBI directly combats wealth and income
inequalities locally and globally.
- Provides a social service to fulfill the
most basic of needs of citizens; shelter,
food & clean water.
- Additional income to individuals will
result in more money in circulation.
- What research has been done debunks
theories that claim citizens will work
less and become lazy.
- Most countries have the economy to
pay for this.
The Negatives of Universal Basic Income
- There needs to be more research of
actual implementation.
- It’s a very polarizing issue.
- Not everyone agrees on how it should be
implemented.
- Opponents are fearful that citizens will
work less and become lazy.
- Who is going to pay for it?
- Some countries cannot pay for UBI.

7. “In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of.
In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.”
— Confucius, Chinese teacher and philosopher 500BC

8. “When it can be said by any country in the world, my poor are happy,
neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them, my jails are
empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars, the aged are not in want,
the taxes are not oppressive, the rational world is my friend because I
am the friend of happiness. When these things can be said, then may
that country boast its constitution and government. Independence is
my happiness, the world is my country and my religion is to do
— Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, 1791

9. “There is nothing new about poverty. What is new, however, is that
we have the resources to get rid of it.”
— Dr. King, Nobel Peace Prize address, 1964

10. Home ownership is something that not every
person will experience. There are many steps,
processes and expenses that go into owning a home. If
you do not have the credit or capital to own a home
you’ll likely always be a renter. Homeownership is an
experience that UBI would help many Americans gain
access to. You might be more engaged and invested
where the home is located if you’re the home owner.
A study done on subjective wellbeing found that,
“homeownership status still positively affects one’s
overall happiness, suggesting that the homeownership
status might also contribute to other possible aspects
of life satisfaction.” Owning a home improves a
person’s happiness and in turn that improves other
aspects of that person’s life.
A citizen who owns their home is measurably
happy. Would a renter be happy with a space to call
home without living pay check to pay check? Yes, they
would be happier than not. Also, if the 0.17% of
Americans who are homeless could afford basic
shelter, food & clean water do you think they too
would be happy?

11. What would you do if the place where
you work suddenly closed?
- Business burned down
- Factory relocated
- Company files for bankruptcy
- Automation eliminated a position
- Global pandemic happens
What if you couldn’t work, because
something happened to you?
- Car was in an accident or stolen
- Medical complications
- Workplace discrimination
- Circumstances at home
- Mass transit changes

12. Access to food and clean water are necessary to the success and
survival of all life on earth. Restricting access to food and water in a world
of abundance is not only cruel it is inhumane. If these two needs are not
accessible to citizens then those people are being denied the most basic of
necessities required for life. It is unreasonable to expect impoverished
people to be self sufficient when they can’t even access the most basic of
needs without devoting an unnecessary amount of time and resources to
fulfilling the simplest of needs. If for no other reason, the implementation
of Universal Basic Income should provide access to the basic requirements
of food and clean water.

13. The Annihilation of Space by Law:The Roots and Implications of Anti‐Homeless
Laws in the United States
https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8330.00048
DietQuality of Americans Differs by Age, Sex, Race/Ethnicity, Income, and
Education Level
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2012.08.011
RobotsWorldwide:The Impact of Automation on Employment andTrade
https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/224602/1/vfs-2020-pid-40084.pdf
GrowingWealth Gaps in Education
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-018-0666-7
TheVarying Effects of Incarceration, Conviction, and Arrest onWealth Outcomes
amongYoung Adults
https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spz023
Population health in an era of rising income inequality: USA, 1980–2015
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30571-8
H. Res. 109 (The Green New Deal)
https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/hres109/BILLS-116hres109ih.pdf
Additional topics that demonstrate
a need for Universal Basic Income

14. When will the next pandemic occur? Will our natural environment
continue to sustain the growing population of countries across the globe?
Environmentalists and epidemiologists have warned that similar events
will happen in the coming century. Will we continue with our business as
usual model, or will we at least try to implement new strategies that aim
to solve issues which plagued our developing cities for millennia? How
can we empower an apartment building, a neighborhood or a city if we
neglect those who do not have the financial security to participate? The
call for Universal Basic Income is growing. As our technology changes and
the demands for social conformity become more exclusive, we as a
community cannot alienate those who lack any economic mobility. To
build an engaging community we have to provide access to the
foundational needs of any successful citizen.

15. Thank you for your time

16. New Mexico Report - 2020. (2021). Talk Poverty.
https://talkpoverty.org/state-year-report/new-mexico-2020-report/
Measuring housing affordability: Looking beyond the median. (2009, June 1). ScienceDirect.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1051137709000163
Should Everyone Get a Guaranteed Income? (n.d.). The Balance. Retrieved March 9, 2021,
from https://www.thebalance.com/universal-basic-income-4160668
Chohan, U. W. (2017, August 4). Universal Basic Income: A Review by Usman W. Chohan ::
SSRN. SSRN. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3013634
Banerjee, A., Niehaus, P., & Suri, T. (2019). Universal Basic Income in the Developing
World. Annual Review of Economics, 11(1), 959–983.
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-economics-080218-030229
Hoynes, H., & Rothstein, J. (2019). Universal Basic Income in the United States and
Advanced Countries. Annual Review of Economics, 11(1), 929–958.
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-economics-080218-030237

17. Cover Source Photos – All photos used in composition are free use
Photo by Kaffeebart on Unsplash
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href="https://unsplash.com/@kaffeebart?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">K
affeebart</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/elephant-in-a-
room?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></span>
Photo by David Fintz on Unsplash
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href="https://unsplash.com/@theotherworkspace?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopy
Text">David Fintz</a> on <a
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Unsplash</a></span>
Photo by Ivan Samkov pexels
https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-white-long-sleeve-shirt-and-blue-denim-jeans-standing-on-white-ladder-5799043/
Hu, F. (2011, November 29). Homeownership and Subjective Wellbeing in Urban China: Does Owning a House
Make You Happier? Social Indicators Research. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11205-011-9967-
6?error=cookies_not_supported&code=27f2d2e0-ebb3-4d0f-a7e7-59e88efb937d
Nature Editorial. (2020, July 10). Pandemic speeds largest test yet of universal basic income. Nature.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01993-3?error=cookies_not_supported&code=010c9a3a-9b2e-
4693-8500-c08c6f6c2d99