Finland, Where Your Welfare is Unconditional

Today I met Detmar's sister and
before start our class, we talked about his new workplace.
He used kind of Phrase of verb  "to show ropes".
it means " to explain how work should be done".



VOCA

premise
Noun
ˈprɛmɪs
a principle or idea that something is based on
An important premise of American law is that everyone has the right to a trial by jury.
The basic premise of any business is to make money.
The basic premise of the film is that everyone has a right to dream and change their lives.

scrap
Verb
skræp
to decide not to continue with something
Vietnam's government has scrapped plans to construct a nuclear power plant.

traction
Noun
ˈtrækʃn
if something gains traction, it becomes popular with or accepted by more and more people
The new technology is gaining traction all over the world.

stigma
Noun
ˈstɪɡmə
something that most people in a society consider embarrassing
Being homeless carries great stigma in society.


+
jury
= a group of people to vote guilty or not.

scrap = decide to stop



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Article

Finland, Where Your Welfare is Unconditional
Every month $667 appears in Marja-Liisa Lähteinen’s bank account, from the Finnish government. Lähteinen, 32, who lives in Finland’s eastern city of Kuopio, is one of 2,000 randomly-selected participants in a historic social experiment.

Lähteinen usually puts the “basic income” money into her savings, but she can also use it to help friends out. She’s bought a new computer and a dishwasher, and she spent money on a summer vacation last year.

Finland is in the middle of a radical experiment on the concept of a Universal Basic Income (UBI). The government wants to know if free cash, no strings attached, can encourage people into better paid work, eliminate dependency and improve lives. UBI has a simple premise: scrap the existing welfare state and replace it with an unconditional cash payout for everyone, regardless of whether they’re at work or on the sofa. And what is more, the UBI payment isn’t cut back once the recipient starts earning.

The concept of UBI has been gaining traction worldwide as a possible answer to rising inequality, changing work practices and jobs threatened by automation. But its roots are surprisingly old: political theorist Thomas Paine pitched the idea that governments pay everyone a standard £15 a year in 1797. His idea of a guaranteed income didn’t catch on then, but recent decades have seen nations all over the world consider a basic income for all.

Walking around Helsinki, the capital, it is apparent the country’s doing well, as are its people. Finland has nearly eliminated homelessness and has one of the most comprehensive social welfare systems in the world.

In Finland, self-reliance is a big cultural pressure and being unemployed is frowned upon. However, the jobless stigma could be solved with the basic income, says Tuomas Muraja, a Helsinki-based journalist. He thinks people with irregular work, such as freelancers, artists and writers, would especially benefit from this system.

But whether Finland really has found a way to a better society, or just a lucky break for 2,000 individuals, depends on the 2019 parliamentary election and the results of this ambitious experiment.


+no strings attached = no obligations
UBI has strated with a simple idea
self-reliance = to rely on yourself, nobody else
*I can say like this "I am self-reliant".




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Questions
1.How many people are taking part in Finland's experiment?
2.Do people continue receiving the UBI payment after they find a job?
3.Who does Tuomas Muraja think will benefit most from this system?

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Discussion
1.What are your thoughts on the concept of a Universal Basic Income?
2.Are you of the opinion that a UBI is a "possible answer to rising inequality, changing work practices, and jobs threatened by automation"? Why? Why not?
3.Would you agree that an "unconditional cash payout for everyone" might encourage people into better paid work? Why? Why not?
4.How might a UBI benefit people with irregular work, such as freelancers, artists and writers?
5.Do you think it's likely that the idea of a Universal Basic Income will catch on in other countries over the next few decades? Please explain your answer.


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Further Discussion
1.Have you ever been to Finland? If so, please share your experience. If not, would you like to? Why? Why not?
2.If you were to receive an additional $667 from the government each month, how would you spend it?
3.Is being unemployed frowned upon in your country? Why do you think this is the case?
4.Would you say that "self-reliance is a big cultural pressure" where you come from? Please explain your answer.
5.Would you change anything about your country’s social welfare system? If so, what would you change and why?

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Quotes
1.The solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income. - Martin Luther King. Jr. Do you agree with this statement? Why? Why not?
2.You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves. - William J. H. Boetcker. What do you make of this argument?