Martin Luther King was talking about a universal basic income before it was cool

Summary

Billionaire tech bros like Sam Altman and Elon Musk like to think they operate on the futuristic fringe.On at least one subject that is trendy in tech circles, however, they are way late: basic income.Nearly six decades ago, Martin Luther King Jr. advocated for a form of basic income not unlike what AI leaders today suggest could be the salve to mitigate AI's impact on the workforce.King wrote in his 1967 book, "Where Do We Go From Here?" that a guaranteed annual income could ultimately create "widespread economic security.""Personal conflicts between husband, wife, and children will diminish when the unjust measurement of human worth on a scale of dollars is eliminated," he wrote. A universal basic income is a recurring cash payment provided to all citizens of a population regardless of socioeconomic standing. A guaranteed basic income, on the other hand, refers to recurring cash payments made to specific citizens, such as those belonging to a certain socioeconomic group, for a set period of time.The idea of a basic income has gained traction in recent years. Many US cities and counties have launched pilot programs, and some have made those programs permanent.King's book came three years after former President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, making it illegal to discriminate based on race, color, sex, religion, or national origin. It was a time of widespread social unrest.In the book, King sought to address ways for the community to move forward together, including addressing issues like poverty through a guaranteed annual income.MLK Jr. wrote that a guaranteed income could help address social issues Martin Luther King Jr. suggested implementing a guaranteed annual income. Vernon Merritt III/Getty Images In his book, King wrote that proposing such an idea in the early 1900s "would have been greeted with ridicule and denunciation as destructive of initiative and responsibility."In fact, little has changed a century later. Some opponents of bas...