Universal Basic Income Lesson Plan for week 5 6/2

UBI.md

Universal Basic Income

Mission Alignment

Our mission is to unlock human potential by training a diverse, inclusive student body to succeed in high-fulfillment technical careers.

As your technical careers progress, most of the work you will do is to automate processes that have been done manually. Our mission is to “unlock human potential.” The software we write enables it’s users to be more productive, and to direct energy toward solving increasingly difficult problems. However, some automation, especially of physical processes, can force some out of the jobs they’ve done for years. This has the potential to do more harm than good for inclusion in our society.

Intro (5 min)

• What is UBI? (Have propmts written on board in advance) brief intro, keep questions in mind during video

Watch (5 min)

As you watch the following video on universal basic income (UBI) keep the following questions in mind.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQXxcjJ5ODw

• Why would we need UBI?

• What are some of the pros/cons of UBI?

• How would you describe the "realities" of our future economy? What constraints and opportunities will we face as a nation?

• Do you think it's worthwhile to be educated about automation, its affect on our workforce, and policy solutions like UBI? What does it look like to be a responsible citizen in the face of such a large, inevitable transformation? Do you think you

• If you had a UBI, would syou still work(full-time, part-time, not at all?)

Related / Addendum Readings

Interested in more? Check out the following:

• The One Thing Politicians Are Too Scared To Talk About
• "About half of Americans support giving residents up to $2000 a month when robots take their jobs" (CNBC: Dec 19, 2016).
• "Could universal basic income start with local and state legislation?" (Economic Security Project: Dec 19, 2016)
• "If manufacturing jobs can't come back, what happens next?"" (Marketplace.org: January 19, 2017)

Reflection (5 min to write in journal)

• Summarzie your thoughts about the video and UBI (answer above questions)

Line-up (3 min to line up in hot/cold order of for/against UBI)

First Round Discussions (15 min)

• In your assigned groups (similar opinion) discuss why you are for UBI or against it.

Group change (3 min)

Second Round of Discussions (15 min)

• (number people 1's and 2's, 2's will change groups
• In your assigned groups (mixed opinions) discuss why you are for UBI or against it.

** Retro ( 7 min)

• 1 or 2 people from your second group share out with the class their final thoughts.