(Photo from Leah Gazan's website. Leah is the Member of Parliament for my riding - Winnipeg Center.)
One of my big dreams is a Universal Basic Income for everyone.
I know - people come here for inspiring stuff about dreams, not political posts.
But dreaming is ALWAYS political because we don't dream in a vacuum, we dream in the world.
Who gets to dream is political.
Who gets to have the resources, time, and support to pursue their dreams and who needs to work multiple jobs to try to feed their kids - is political.
Whose creative work receives grants and accolades, and whose creative work is not understood or appreciated - is political.
We dream in the same intersections that we live in.
Racism, ableism, sexism, classism - all the things that make life either easier or harder for us also make creative dreaming easier or harder for us.
Most of the new age and coaching industries focus on the things that you, the individual, can do, to achieve your own dreams. And that's an important part of the work but it's not the whole thing.
I've been coaching for a long time. Full time since 2011, but on the side for a long time before that.
And from everything I have learned along the way:
A Universal Basic Income would do more to support our dreams than any master class or coaching program ever could.
Yes - quality coaching and mentoring are vital.
But so is having all of the SPACE and TIME we need to get in touch with our creative gifts and figure out how to share them.
And yes - your own personal determination plays a role there.
But we have to recognize that your personal situation and the number of intersections of oppression you face plays a much larger role - both in terms of your ability to "be determined" about your dream, and terms of the obstacles you face.
As one example: if you are childfree that's going to make your dreams much easier. If you have kids with a supportive partner you'll have more stuff to work through but if you are a single parent you've got a LOT of work just to make space to make space.
Also, a parent with money is a completely different situation than a parent without money.
And, here in Canada, an Indigenous parent dealing with inter-generational trauma of the ongoing colonial genocide is in a completely different situation than a while settler. (My family has plenty of inter-generational trauma, but all of our stories include "and then we came to Canada and were able to farm here and settle and create a good life" with NO mention of the people who were forcibly removed from the lands we settled on, and what happened to them to keep them from being able to get their land back.)
A universal basic income could help level the playing field. It's not everything we need to end systemic oppression, but it's a very good step in the process.
In a country where people actually die of poverty, a universal basic income would save lives.
For that reason alone, I think it's vital that we put our support behind Bill C-223. (And if you're not in Canada you can do some research to see what is happening where you live, maybe there are people working on this and you can help.)
It's illogical to spend money policing poverty when that money could instead eliminate it.
It's an easy change we can make with a HUGE impact, beyond the peoples whose lives would be directly transformed by it.
A universal basic income helps EVERYONE, not just the people who need it.
Violent crime is on the rise where I live because poverty is on the rise where I live. This morning my husband found out his car was broken into last night.
(We are still living apart, he's in an apartment very close to me, but in a much more bougie neighbourhood than where I live. When he lived here, his car was broken into several times a year)
Even though we are ok, we are going to feel the effects of increase financial instability around us.
Think about what it means to live in a city where EVERYONE has a safe place to live and enough food to eat and can get the medical support they need.
Crime goes down. Education goes up. People are healthier and happier.
It creates a sturdy foundation for dreams. But it also creates a better world.
Everyone's dreams are needed.
Your dream is your soul calling you towards your true self.
Your dream is your purpose, your creative callings, your most authentic way of living.
You know this. You can FEEL how the things we are dreaming of can help save the world.
My dream was always to use my creativity to support others to believe in themselves and their dreams, even long before I had any clue how to believe in myself and my dreams.
In being able to pursue and create my dreams, I've been able to support thousands of other people with their dreams. Dreams are so generative.
Right now, people are dreaming up solutions to climate change and skyrocketing inflation and war and every single problem we face.
But are they all able to have the time, support, and resources to bring their ideas to fruition? Of course not.
Think about what could change if everyone DID have this.
Beyond saving the lives of our most vulnerable citizens, a Universal Basic Income could set things up to save the world.
Solutions already exist.
When Leah Gazan (pictured above) first ran to be the MP for Winnipeg Center in 2018, I was volunteering for her campaign.
I hate politics. But Leah made me feel hopeful at a time when I was feeling less hope than ever, so I was really happy to step out of my comfort zone and help her campaign.
She showed me how the solutions to all of the problems we face in our riding already exist in our riding. There are so many people out there doing good things!
And we have to do more to empower and support those people, instead of putting so much money into empowering and supporting multi-national corporations with corporate welfare and tax loopholes, instead of policing the impacts of poverty.
A Universal Basic Income is one of those solutions and it's easy to fund it.
Even if a UBI was funded by a tax increase I believe it would be worth it.
But it costs less money to give people homes than it does to police homelessness.
It costs less money to police the impacts of poverty, than it does to eliminate poverty.
I know for some people this can feel radical, but it's been thoroughly studied and I suggest you do some research.
If you're in Canada I ask that you check out Leah's National Framework For A Guaranteed Livable Basic Income Act to find out more.
This can happen.
All of the stressful ways that our economy is changing right now could be the impetus to push this through.
This is why I went out of my comfort zone to volunteer for Leah Gazan's election campaign. I believe in her and I am going to stay hopeful.
