The idea is as simple as it is revolutionary: A Guaranteed Income for all to ensure opportunity and economic security. The first of its kind, SEED is a groundbreaking initiative to provide a guaranteed income to a handful of recipients.
Just 80 miles east of Silicon Valley, one of the wealthiest regions in the country, is Stockton, California — once known as America's foreclosure capital.
Soon, the former bankrupt city will become the first in the country to participate in a test of Universal Basic Income, also known as UBI. Stockton will give 100 residents $500 a month for 18 months, no strings attached.
STOCKTON, Calif. — This town in California’s Central Valley has long functioned as a display case for wrenching troubles afflicting American life: The housing bust that turned Stockton into an epicenter of a national foreclosure disaster and plunged the city into bankruptcy. The homeless people clustered in tents along the railroad tracks. Boarded-up storefronts on cracked sidewalks. Gang violence.
Kia Duras has spent the last few days perched atop a cherry picker on California Street in downtown Stockton, California, about fifty feet off the ground. That’s exactly where she was when she took my call the other day, high above the street under the blazing spring sun as she put the finishing touches on her massive canvas. “People have been driving by and yelling out the window, ‘that looks great!’” she said, “the interest has been huge.”
The Demonstration is for the people of Stockton, by the people of Stockton. Residents are encouraged to comment, ask questions, and make their opinions known.