The Role of Media in the Basic Income Movement

After years of stagnation in the American national conversation, the concept of UBI has experienced a rapid resurgence in recent years, greatly fueled by automation fears and eye-catching Silicon Valley endorsements. However, as of July 2019, it is still largely considered to be a fringe issue in the United States. In order to grow to the point of serious consideration, basic income will need to evolve into a popular movement. Some of this next evolution had already begun by July of 2019, most notably thanks to Andrew Yang’s long-shot presidential campaign, but there is much more still to do before it can go mainstream. Since the corporate media in America is largely compromised and/or unwilling to give due credence to such a populist effort, alternative forms of media must become the weapons of choice for spreading the idea of basic income through coordinated grassroots campaigns.