Guy Standing Quotes

Guy Standing

Profession : Actor

Birth : September 1, 1873

If I care for an elderly relative without payment, it is not work, is not counted in national income, and, as it is not labour, is not counted as work. Should my neighbour pay me to do precisely the same tasks, it would contribute to economic growth.

Guy Standing

A person looking after a frail former lover is not working and not contributing to economic growth. But if he or she stopped, the state would probably have to take over, thereby adding to growth. So, to increase growth, we should stop looking after our loved ones. Could anybody explain to a passing Martian how this makes sense?

Guy Standing

Think how modern economics presents work. Only labour that contributes to growth counts.

Guy Standing

The income distribution system constructed in the 20th century has broken down, and it will not come back.

Guy Standing

People want to work, but they don't want to necessarily want to do labour.

Guy Standing

The evidence shows if you give people security, they become better people. They develop their talents. They become better citizens.

Guy Standing

We are in an era of chronic insecurity and growing inequalities. In that context, we need to have new mechanisms for income distribution which give people a sense of security.

Guy Standing

Means-tested benefits have one incredible feature in that they impose huge poverty traps.

Guy Standing

If you had a basic income, it would mean that everybody would have a base on top of which their earned income would be taxed at the standard rate of tax. That would increase the incentive to take low-wage jobs.

Guy Standing

I don't see basic income as a panacea, but we must have a new income distribution system. The old one has broken down irretrievably.

Guy Standing

The precariat has been losing cultural rights in that those in it feel they cannot and do not belong to any community that gives them secure identity or a sense of solidarity and reciprocity, of mutual support.

Guy Standing

Many low-income people in the U.S.A. charged with a crime opt to plead guilty to a lesser offence because they cannot afford to go to trial.

Guy Standing

Millions of people in many so-called democratic countries have lost the right to vote, or never obtain it. And millions clearly feel that the political mainstream is not articulating a vocabulary or policies oriented to their needs and aspirations.

Guy Standing

If schooling becomes little more than preparation for the job market and consumption, it cannot produce socially responsible and altruistic citizens.

Guy Standing

A rich and diverse commons lowers the cost of living for those who use it. And throughout history, it has been those on low incomes who gain most from the commons.

Guy Standing

Think of a public library, worth more for those who cannot afford numerous books. Think of a public waterway or fishing ground. All types of commons have imputed monetary value that together comprise a source of social income. As such, the commons reduces economic inequality and insecurity in society.

Guy Standing

Using political power, the elite can induce local authorities to facilitate enclosure and privatisation of land, water, and other hitherto public amenities. And they can pressurise public administrations to cut taxes, reducing financial resources for maintaining the remaining commons.

Guy Standing

What distinguishes a commons is that it is not private property, does not have a price, and is oriented towards 'use value' rather than 'exchange value.' It does not exist to generate profits.

Guy Standing

In 1936, John Maynard Keynes predicted the 'euthanasia of the rentier' before the end of the 20th century. It did not happen.

Guy Standing

Most existing national capital funds have been built up from royalties from oil and other minerals. They need not be limited that way. Most are anything but democratic. That could be changed.

Guy Standing