Soon after Michael Tubbs became the mayor of Stockton, California, at the age of 26—the youngest of a city of over 100,000 and Stockton’s first African-American mayor—he directed his policy fellows to research ways to reduce poverty. Four years earlier, in 2012, the city had declared bankruptcy, and it was still mired in high unemployment and crime. The team came back to report that one way to end poverty was to give people money. This solution had a name, “universal basic income” (UBI), and a long history in America as a social-policy idea. It had been embraced by Thomas Paine and Milton Friedman and made a cornerstone of the Poor People’s Campaign advanced by Martin Luther King Jr. Both Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter had proposed replacing welfare with a guaranteed income. More recently, the idea was revived by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, who saw it as a remedy for the burgeoning “useless class”—all those people whose jobs technology is making obsolete. So far, no American city had ever tried it.
This story is from the October 14–27, 2019 edition of New York magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the October 14–27, 2019 edition of New York magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Good One: Ramy Youssef
The comedian on the first Israel-Palestine joke he wrote after 10/7.
Not Your Average Heartthrob
Nicholas Galitzine can play himbo, Prince Charming, and Gen-Z queer iconsometimes all at once. Now, he's coming
Northern Mexico, Just Below Canal
Corima has potential-and excellent tortillas
A Tree House for Two Architects
Phu Hoang and Rachely Rotem built the indoor-outdoor \"Mini Tower One\" extension of their Carroll Gardens home.
THE ERIC ADAMS SMASH - AND - GRAB
It's a brazenly transactional era of government here in New York City.| FRANK CARONE is its master practitioner.
JEFF ZUCKER'S FLEET STREET MISADVENTURE
The former CNN and NBC boss wants a new media empire. Is that even possible in 2024?
MECHANISMS of CONTROL
Andrew Huberman has attracted millions of acolytes by preaching self-discipline and healthy lifestyle habits. But those closest to him suggest there is a darker side to his appeal.
Streetscape: Mark Jacobson
Charging Ahead Baruch Herzfeld wants to end the rash of e-bike battery fires.
461 MINUTES WITH...Hanif Abdurraqib
The MacArthur-grant winner's unclassifiable new book is as idiosyncratic as the author himself.
Neighborhood News: The 'SNL' Guys' Ferry Isn't Adrift
Colin Jost and Pete Davidson's architect has a real plan.