UBI: wise response or naive distraction, to Covid-19 and future disruptions?

Is the concept of UBI - Universal Basic Income - a wise response, or a naive distraction, to the challenges posed by Covid-19 and likely future social disruptions?

Are regular payments to every citizen in the country an appropriate solution to the fragility that the coronavirus pandemic is exposing in our economy and social safety net? When we consider potential additional crises that may boil over in the years ahead, does the case for UBI strengthen or weaken? And what are the alternatives to UBI?

To address these questions, this online Zoom discussion will include a number of initial short talks. They will be followed by a group discussion in which all online attendees can participate.

The event is scheduled to run for around 90 minutes starting at 19.00 UK time (GMT) on Thursday 26th March.

To find this time in other timezones, use https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html?iso=20200326T190000&p1=136

== To join the event ==

The event is taking place on Zoom. To join the audience, visit https://zoom.us/j/101549903.

This Zoom room will be open from 10 minutes before the scheduled start time, to allow people time to check their connections and settings.

If you haven't used Zoom before, you should trial using it beforehand, https://zoom.us/. For participants, the software is free to use.

There is no charge to attend this London Futurists event.

Inside the call, you can ask a question using the Q&A button, and add votes in favour of questions that others have already asked. You can also share thoughts and ideas in the text chat window. If you are asked to join the audio aspect of the event to, you can choose whether or not to enable a video feed from your webcam (or phone).

== Speakers ==

The following panellists will make short opening provocations, to set the stage for group discussion:

*) Phil Teer, author "The coming age of imagination", https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1783525932/

*) Calum Chace, author "The Economic Singularity: Artificial Intelligence and the Death of Capitalism", https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01IOCUUDW/

*) Barb Jacobson, Basic Income UK, https://www.basicincome.org.uk/

*) Carin Ism, Future of Governance Agency, https://singularityhub.com/2020/03/25/16-ways-coronavirus-may-change-the-way-we-look-at-the-world/

*) Gennady Stolyarov, United States Transhumanist Party, https://transhumanist-party.org/2020/03/25/ballot-options-platform-vote-8/

*) Philippe Van Nedervelde, E-spaces, http://virtualoffices.e-spaces.com/philippevannedervelde.html

== Credits ==

The meeting image is based on a design by Pixabay member MoneyCortex, https://pixabay.com/photos/pounds-sterling-notes-cash-money-1680567/

== Facebook mirror ==

There's a copy of this announcement on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/events/139651954148538/