My parents coined this term.
At least, as far as I know. My mother died of ovarian cancer in 2000, my father of severe emphysema and COPD in 2013, 14 months after grundoon.
My parents both quit college at age 21, married and went to the University of Tennessee. My father quit Princeton and my mother quit Cornell. My mother inherited a chunk of money when my maternal grandfather's uncle died. He was an attorney but had mostly made his money on real estate in the Washington, DC area. I don't know what year my mother inherited: ah, here: Edward Burling. In 1966 I was five and after all, it may have taken a while to sort the estate.
My impression is that my parents left the principal alone. I do not know what the original amount was. I was born in March after a June wedding, when my parents were 23. My father started graduate school when I started fourth grade, at SUNY Binghampton. My mother was NOT a housewife NOR a stay at home mother. She was an artist, a fine artist. She was prolific but not very interested in selling her work, though she had tons of shows.
She didn't need to sell her art, right? The principal kicked out enough money that my parents owned a ratty house and old cars when I was in fourth grade, my mother was doing art, and my father was in graduate school. My parents said that they were beatniks and admired Jack Kerouac. I read Kerouac in high school and thought he was a selfish self-absorbed asshole, but whatever. And my maternal grandparents were the safety net: when that great uncle died, my grandmother was one of the people in a trust that lasted until I was around 30.
Currently, the US Federal Poverty Level is at $20,292 for a household of two. My daughter is 20 and in college. In 1970 for a family of four, it was $24,000; for a family of four it is now $30,750. I don't know if they really got $2000.00 per month in 1970.
I have a friend in London who is working on Universal Basic Income. There is also Global Basic Income. When my father died, I realized that I am the safety net for my children and not nearly as safe. My ex's mother and stepfather are both in their 90s. She has lost her memory and he worries about running out of money. How long will I live? Like my grandmother, mid-90s? Or more like my parents and sister?
I have wondered if my father would not have been an alcoholic if my parents had not had that money. On the other hand, perhaps he would have been as bad or worse.
This article http://www.globalincome.org/English/Global-Basic-Income.html talks about basic income being "free money". I think that is misleading. Think of the bones of our ancestors that this world was built on. The people killed in the name of profit and greed. I see so much fear in clinic, fear and suspicion and "Why should I be honest when the banks are not, when the President is not?" People say the world is about love, but often they say "only if you follow MY fundamentalist religion and behave a certain way". That is all about fear too and containment and control.
My parents worked all the time, but often not for money. My mother was a prolific artist, watercolors, etching, silk screens, oils, drawings, whole sketchbooks, pastels. My father quit working on his PhD and took a Masters in mathematics because he was bored. He worked for GE in the experimental computer section back in the late 1970s and later taught math at community college. I admire my parents for living the way they wanted. Meanwhile I am do NOT have that basic income coming in. Where is my great aunt or great uncle who leaves me in a trust?
What would you do if you were independently wealthy at a poverty level or had a basic income? What would it change?
For reQuest 2018: 2.