Simon Jones – 2nd December 2022
A poem by Simon Jones, written 29th November 2022 for a public event on Basic Income hosted by the Basic Income Network Scotland in the Wee Red Bar in Edinburgh
Reprinted here with kind permission.
Free Happiness For All
There’s an idea, old and new
Whose time has come
That money should be free
Universal basic income.
For our ancient ancestors
Stuff was just free
They didn’t pay a fee
To take a fruit from a tree.
Those perfect days
Could once again be
When we share a little wealth
With you and with me.
“But wait,” you ask,
“Won’t people just not work?
Sit on the sofa all day
How they’ll love to shirk.”
You’d think so, right
But when they put it to the test
it transpires that in practice
People actually give their best.
When your welfare system
Mires people in bureaucracy
They spend all day worrying.
How efficient can they be?
Give ordinary folk money
It gets spent at the shops
It doesn’t go to Bermuda
To get squandered on yachts.
Be brave, have faith
Tell politicians to try
The policy of hope,
Love and future: U.B.I.