Wehomeschooledbothofourchildrenandweused a portionofthatsavingsthatthegirlshadtobuildtheirschoolhousesowecouldcontinuetoschooloutsideofthekitchentable.
Andthenasthegirlsgotolder, itwasjusttheirs, youknow, iftheyhad a choirtriptogoonor, youknow, theyhadmoney.
TheStewartsusetheirowndividendsjustassensibly.
Soquiteofteninthepast, wewoulduseourdividendchecksor a dividendchecktobuywintertiresforoneofourtrucks.
Evenifit's $1,000 tome, if I goandthenspendthat $1,000 inHomer, thenthatpersonhavegottheirdividendcheck, butthentheyjustgotanother $1,000 frommeandmaybe a bunchofotherpeople.
Soitreallyripplesoutacrossthewholecommunity.
Andtheydon't thinkthecashstopspeopleworking.
I justliketothinkthatpeopleliketowork.
I mean, peopleliketo, maybetheywouldworkin a differentjob.
Andiftheydidhave a jobthattheyliked, butitwasn't paying a lot, thentheycouldstillkeepthatjob.
Buttheydothink a biggerdividendcouldchangethat.
I thinktherewouldbedefinitely a lotmorepeoplethatwouldopttojust, iftheycouldjustcoastonthedividend, ifsayitwas $1,000 a month, andiftherewastwopeopleandthentheyhadalltheirkids.
Ifthere's onethingtheStuartsmadeclearisthatthedividendhasgiventhem a greatersenseofsecurityandwell-being.
Youknow, $1,000 a yearisnotgoingtomakeorbreakmostpeople, butknowingthatwe'regettingitisdefinitely a psychologicalcomfort.
It's notthatmuch, butitsavesyourpride a littlebit, I guess.
Itfeelsgoodtogetsomething, and I thinkeverybodycansaythat.
Alaska's a specialcase, butwhattheStuartssaygoestotheheartofthedebateonuniversalbasicincome, andwhether a similarorevenlargerpaymentcouldmakesenseelsewhere.
And I thinktheyanswermanyoftheobjectionspeoplehavetoUBI.
Theonethingthat a universalbenefitwouldbeabletoachieveistoavoidleavingbehindpeoplewhoshouldbeeligiblebutduetoadministrativecomplexitiesweren't abletoavailthemselvesofthebenefit.
Thesizeofthepaymentisnotsomethingthatactuallyisdesignedtoorcouldsupport a family.
That's a goodpoint.
Solet's lookatanother U.S. casewithmuchmoremoney.
InNorthCarolina, theEasternBandofCherokeeIndiansgetshugerevenuesfrom a casinoontheirreservationandtheyhandthisoutunconditionallytoallmembersofthetribe, justlike a UBI.
Itaverages $4,000 to $6,000 a year, muchmorethanAlaska.
Secondly, thedividendreducedmentalhealthissuesamongthekids, andinparticular, itreduceddrugandalcoholabuse, which I thinkisveryinterestingbecause a lotofpeople, whenyoutellthemaboutUBI, they'reworriedthatpeoplewillspenditondrugandalcohol.
Evenso, I believethereismoreagreementthanitappearsatfirst.
I thinkintheory, ifyoucouldsayactuallyimplementing a universalbasicincomewouldnotchangehowpeoplethinkaboutwork, thosewouldbeverygoodcounterargumentstowhat I'm saying.
Andhere's anotheridea.
Couldwegetthecriticsmoreonboardifwedon't callit a UBIintendedtoletpeoplechoosenottowork, butsomethingmorelike a dividendfromsharedresources?
ItcouldbeAlaska's oil, theCherokees' casinoprofits, bigtechdataextraction, or a carbontax.
I likeit, andinfact, Californiaisinsomewaysalreadydoingthis.
Sopeoplewhodon't agreeonUBIas a finaldestinationforreformcouldperhapsagreeonsomeofthespecificbuildingblocksthatmakeupUBI.
I seebasicincomeas a road, and I'm notsurewhetherwewillevergetthere.
But I seethattakingstepstowardbasicincome, wecanimproveandrenewourcurrentsocialsecuritysystemandmakeitmoreflexible, makeitmoresimple, betterforthepeople.
Universalbasicincomeisstillanunorthodoxidea, and a lotofpeoplethinktheproposaljustgoestoofar.