Return our Citizen Dividend. "People need to quit demanding jobs and start demanding justice."

Why you have the right to a $5K dividend from Uncle Sam | Making Sen$e | PBS NewsHour: (Aug 27, 2014)

This post on citizen dividend has quite a few gems.

"Dividends from common wealth, by contrast, unite society by putting all its members in the same boat. The income everyone receives is a right, not a handout. This changes the story, the psychology and the politics."

"A national dividend system would be simple, fair and immensely popular. It would rest on the principle of shared ownership, not redistribution. Once set up, it would be market-based rather than tax-funded. And it could gain support across the political spectrum: conservatives from Sarah Palin to Bill O’Reilly have lauded Alaska’s dividends."

"Our times demand a reliable flow of supplementary income as well. The best way to provide that is to pay dividends to everyone from wealth that’s logically ours."

From progress.org (Aug 28, 2014), on the above post about citizen dividend:

"What’s needed is for regular people to feel enough self-esteem to demand a fair share of what’s already ours just like the rich feel when winning an enormous share of what’s not theirs. We’re not broke. There is a surplus. It just needs to be shared. People need to quit demanding jobs and start demanding justice."

When will more people around the world be more like Alaskans, demanding their share of their own state's resources?

When will the Alaskans be more Alaskan, demanding a better share of their own state's resources? They only get a quarter of what the state gets from the oil companies, which is a small fraction of the oil wealth. I think Alaskans get less than 10% of their oil wealth in citizen dividends.

Power, empathy and when to squeeze your politicians

"Studies have repeatedly shown that participants who are in high positions of power (or who are temporarily induced to feel powerful) are less able to adopt the visual, cognitive or emotional perspective of other people, compared to participants who are powerless (or are made to feel so)." (From Powerful and Coldhearted, NYT)

This offers deep insights on why revolutions fail again and again. When a revolution begins, the leaders have empathy for the people because they are weak. When a revolution succeeds, the leaders have lost empathy with the people because they are powerful.

Followers of any revolution must learn this. Squeeze your leaders before the revolution succeeds. It is rare to find an individual who can have empathy when he or she is powerful. For example, it is really rare, once in many millenniums, when a governor decided to give citizen dividends to everyone, and even made that an independent system under the constitution, outside his control. That happened in Alaska. There is no precedent.

People who want a citizen dividend or a universal basic income must squeeze their politicians to commit before they succeed. Once the politicians succeed, it is too late.

Scotland may be another example. The "YES" group of politicians have not committed to a universal basic income. They have suggested that the idea can be considered in the future (Re-thinking Welfare: Fair, Personal and Simple). By then, it will be too late. According to the psychological studies, the politicians' empathy is now, and it won't last long.

I envy Scotland: "free prescriptions, no student tuition fees, social care for elderly people."

Scottish writers on the referendum – independence day?

In the above article, a writer highlights Scotland's "free prescriptions, no student tuition fees, social care for elderly people."

I envy Scotland, because Singapore is the opposite: expensive prescriptions, high student tuition fees, zero social care for elderly people.

It's not that Singapore has no money for that. There is enough to easily pay a universal citizen dividend of $10,000 a year.

How the next aspiring Prime Minister can win BIG and keep the United Kingdoms united?

Here's the strategy for the next aspiring Prime Minister of UK to win the next election, and to keep Scotland within UK.

The Scottish government pushing for an independence referendum has promised an oil fund, but it is not a people's fund. They have not mentioned a word about any citizen dividend. This is in total contrast to the Alaska Permanent Fund, which is really a people's fund. The Alaska Permanent Fund pays dividends to Alaskans. The fund is not used for anything else. Not for grand sounding projects. Just pure citizen dividend.

This is where the next aspiring Prime Minister of UK can pull back the Scottish people, and at the same time get the other UK citizens excited. Promise a citizen dividend fund. Money in the people's pocket is a lot more reassuring than money is some general purpose wealth fund.

Will Scotland have a sovereign wealth fund?
We propose that, and as recommended by the Fiscal Commission, an independent Scotland should establish a Scottish Energy Fund to stabilise revenues in the short-term and to ensure that a proportion of oil and gas tax receipts are invested for the long-term benefit of the people of Scotland.
The decisions of successive Westminster governments to spend Scottish oil revenues rather than investing a proportion of them represent a major lost opportunity. Norway began transferring money into its oil fund in 1996. The fund is now worth £470 billion, equivalent to around £90,000 per person in Norway, and is the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world.
Analysis by the Fiscal Commission concluded that, had it used its oil wealth to establish an oil fund in 1980, Scotland could have eliminated its share of UK public sector net debt by 1982/83. By 2011/12 Scotland could have accumulated financial assets of between £82 billion and £116 billion. That would be equivalent to between 55 per cent and 78 per cent of GDP.

The Scots should demand a citizen dividend fund before independence vote

Some of those pushing for an independent Scotland want a sovereign wealth fund to improve the economy. This will be absolutely disastrous for the fund and for the Scots. The clearest lesson is from Alberta's Heritage fund, which was set up for that purpose. The Heritage fund died within a few years as politicians diverted the money to "more urgent" uses.

The Scots should demand a well protected citizen dividend fund, like the Alaska Permanent Fund, which is reserved solely for paying out citizen dividends.

10 facts about Scotland’s oil and independence

The Fiscal Commission Working Group, including several acclaimed international economists and Nobel Prize winning Economists, has recommended that an independent Scotland establish an oil fund. This fund will ensure that the proceeds of oil and gas can be invested in long-term projects to improve Scotland’s economic position.

Falkland Islanders may get US$500,000 citizen dividends each annually, potentially.

Falkland Residents

The Falkland Islands has a tiny population of 3000, and a potentially gigantic common wealth. If the Falklands recognizes citizen ownership of its common wealth and distributes a citizen dividend, each resident can, potentially, get a citizen dividend of half a million US dollars every year.

Oil wealth

Here's the calculation.

"It seems certain that 350 million barrels worth of oil are below the sea bed to the north — and it is believed that at least ten times as much could be found to the south."

That adds up to about 4000 million barrels of oil. At US$100 a barrel, that is $400 billion dollars.

Falkland Islands government is planning a 9 per cent royalty on each barrel. Let's take a round number of 10%. That is $40 billion dollars of common wealth for the Falkland Islanders.

If they put that into a dividend fund, an investment return of 5% will mean $2 billion a year for its population of 3000.

That means a $650,000 citizen dividend for each resident annually.

That puts the fantastic potential Kuwaiti citizen dividend of $2.3 million (over a 80-yr lifetime) far behind.

What's happening?
The people there are expecting lots of money to flow in.
"The islands’ financial secretary, Nicola Granger, has been to Norway to discuss that country’s experience of setting up a sovereign wealth fund — a state-owned fund that would invest all this extra money."

What could stop the citizen dividend?
There are two possibilities.
1. External threat. The Argentina government may not let go of the vast riches, or the UK government may want a share.
2. Citizen ignorance. The Falkland Islanders may make the same mistake that the UK government did with the North Sea oil. The UK government considered that a God's gift to the economy, and the citizens were robbed of their rightful citizen dividend. The Scottish are angry about this. (How black gold was hijacked: North sea oil and the betrayal of Scotland, Dude, where's my North Sea oil money?, Norwegians point the way as 'oil fund millionaires')

Independent Scotland to come with a citizen dividend fund?

Scotland Oil Fund

"Yes Scotland" is proposing a Scotland oil fund following the example of Norway's sovereign wealth fund.

"Norway’s oil fund has grown so large that every Norwegian is now theoretically a millionaire, it has been revealed. There is still time for Scotland to follow its example."

"Had Scotland started an energy fund in the 1980s, we could now have had national assets worth £100 billion.

 

With a Yes, we can create a rainy day fund that gives the people of Scotland financial security well into the future."

 

It is great that people from all over the world are now interested in setting up sovereign wealth fund for their people. The key words are "for the people." They should look at the Alaska Permanent Fund and see how that fund is protected for the people. Indeed, the Alaska people had successfully defended their dividend fund from "their" politicians. There are many funds that have zero protection for the people. Their politicians are free to squander it in any way they like. 


Should Scotland be an independent country?

From BBC. Scotland going independent?

BBC News - Scottish referendum: SNP to launch independence blueprint:

Who? What? When?

• Voters in Scotland - including for the first time 16 and 17-year-olds - will have their say in a referendum on Scottish independence.

• They will be asked the "yes/no" question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?"

• The referendum takes place on Thursday 18 September, 2014.

What is missing from the above?

How much?

Scottish voters should ask how much. How much is the citizen dividend?

If you are going to start a new country, you should ask about citizen dividend. 

That is the only direct tangible benefit to voters.