on utilities and less than 2% on tobacco and alcohol. And less than 2% of recipients are
unemployed and not looking for work, thus helping to dismantle the malicious and
racist tropes that those struggling with economic insecurity will squander money or
stop working.
Building on the success of my pilot, in June 2020 I launched Mayors for a Guaranteed
Income, a coalition of more than 25 mayors advocating a federal guaranteed income.
Mayors have been on the political front lines of not only covid-19, but also the civil
unrest that followed the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others. Although
these protests began in response to police brutality, they are also about the violence of
poverty and economic insecurity and continue a conversation we’ve been having for
400 years: does the inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness truly
apply to everyone?
Poverty and economic insecurity are choices of policy, not of individuals. Covid-19 and
the global Black Lives Matter protests point to the simple and undeniable truth that we
must chart a new path forward—a path that sees and acknowledges the dignity of all of
humanity. The coming year beckons for a New Deal that puts poverty and scarcity in a
museum and unleashes the degree of well-being and sense of belonging needed to
create the beloved community in which we all deserve to live.
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