As Ireland’s $1,500-a-month basic income pilot program for creatives nears its end in February, officials have to answer a simple question: Is it worth it?
With four months to go, they say the answer is yes.
Earlier this month, Ireland’s government announced its 2026 budget, which includes “a successor to the pilot Basic Income Scheme for the Arts to begin next year” among its expenditures.
Ireland is just one of many places experimenting with guaranteed basic income programs, which provide recurring, unrestricted payments to people in a certain demographic. These programs differ from a universal basic income, which would provide payments for an entire population.
That doesn’t work. Assets are not recurring income so you can only handout them once.
What does prevent it from spreading?
They create the structure. People could already have the assets for UBI if they were structured. We don’t have because groups don’t have the discipline to maintain the structure all the time.
If the group can force the billionaires to hand out the assets then they could also create the assets on their own.