As Europe continues to struggle with financial turbulence and unemployment, activists in Switzerland have decided to take a stand and demand a basic income to each citizen on a monthly basis.The initiative aims to have a minimum monthly disposal household income of CHF 2,500 (US$ 2,700) given by the government to every citizen living in Switzerland, They went on to clarify that the goal of the initiative is 'not to make people equal' but instead 'to give people the right of life in an economical way'.
Swiss people are going to have a vote on a proposal to give everybody in the country $34,000 a year, no strings attached.The initiative's organizing committee said the basic income could partly be financed through money from social insurance systems in Switzerland.
The timing of the vote has yet to be announced, pending official guidance from the government.
The Swiss referendum process allows any measure gaining 100,000 signatures to get a vote, and the latest one involves a basic income for all adults in the country of 2,500 Swiss francs a month, or nearly $34,000 a year at current exchange rates. The country’s poverty line is about 2,300 Swiss francs a month.
Residents of the country have been miffed at exorbitant pay for the country’s bank executives.
As part of the petition process, organizers dumped millions of 5 centime coins in front of the country’s parliament building.
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