Jan 7, 2014

The beauty of BIG single-issue voters.

What if you have a BIG issue that you are very passionate about, that you think will save the world? What if you really really believe that an unconditional basic income will eradicate poverty at once and forever? (BIG stands for basic income guarantee, which is another name for unconditional basic income.)

In the US, Presidents after Presidents have declared war on poverty. But they lost. Unconditional basic income is an issue that outweighs all other issues. "FORGET EVERYTHING ELSE, WE JUST WANT A BASIC INCOME."

But the dominant political parties have absolutely no interest? When you are fed up with these political parties? So what can you do?

You can start a new political party. But we know that's not easy. Look at the small parties in US, UK and elsewhere. They will be lucky to even get into the news. Starting a new political party to champion an issue has a very low chance of success. Fortunately, there is an alternative with a good chance of success.

It is time to consider seriously the idea of single-issue voting. It is explained in Single-Issue Voters,
Suppose that 10% of the population is single-issue voters who want all stores to be closed on Friday (for religious reasons, let us suppose). Additionally in the upcoming election there are two candidates, each of whom supports a different range of policies. One of them is focused on economic expansion while the other is focused on improving the general quality of life. Between these two candidates the population is divided 50-50, with voters unlikely to be switch from one to the other. Both candidates of course want to win, but neither can be assured of victory as things stand. Closing stores on Friday doesn’t seem like a big deal, so one of the candidates may choose to add that to their platform, as a sacrifice they are willing to make in order to win. This would immediately give them victory, with a 10% margin, due to the single-issue voters who now will vote for them (we assume they are divided evenly among the candidates). Naturally their opponent will respond by also promising to close stores on Friday in order to restore the balance. And at this point no matter which of the two candidates wins then the single-issue voters win as well.
Forget about voting for political parties. Many people are realizing that there's not much difference between the big political parties. Fury with MPs is main reason for not voting – poll.

Unconditional basic income activists should consider forming BIG/UBI single-issue voter groups in various countries. If we have 10% or even 5% of the voters, we will have a very BIG influence on the political elections.

The groups must be loud, so that politicians know what they are facing. In addition to voting for promises (few political promises are kept), we should also vote for performance. A possible strategy is "No Second Term": If the current political office-holders don't actively support unconditional basic income, they don't get our support in the next election. There should be positive results within a few elections.



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