Our Travels: Filming and Schmoozing
From Conrad Shaw and Deia Schlosberg of the Bootstraps Basic Income Project
We’ve been driving all around the freezing cold U.S. since January 5th, and will finally pull back into NYC in about a week.
Our activities can be summed up in two ways:
#1: We filmed with several of the participants of our basic income trial in Montana, New York, Virginia, and South Dakota.
They’ve been receiving their no-strings-attached stipends for 4-5 months and the results have been wonderful. Payments have been smooth and problem-free, arriving in bank accounts every Wednesday like clockwork to the tune of $231/week per adult and $77/week per child.
Without getting too specific for anonymity’s sake,
a homeless man is now looking for his first apartment with the money he’s saved up in his first bank account,
a young family of 3 is preparing to leave the hospital with their son for the first time in a year,
and a woman has left her job struggling as an Uber driver and is now teaching art at her home town high school, building her own art business, and staying involved in activism in her community.
They all report a feeling of less stress and greater power in driving their own lives. There’s no question that the extra cash in hand every week is making a positive difference so far.
We are truly honored to be witnessing and covering these stories and can’t wait to see what the next weeks, months, and years of income security bring for them!
#2: We also visited several snazzy film festivals to pitch our wares to some very exciting and influential production companies, funders, and more.
All in all, the meetings were fantastic and many of those conversations are ongoing.
This is extremely important and encouraging, because not only do we need to raise more money to begin the rest of our intended Bootstrappers on their basic income trials as soon as possible and fund the production, but also we want a strong production company partner in our corner to help manage this ever-growing project.
We are officially the second basic income trial in America, and we already fund basic incomes in more states than any other trial, and that’s no small thing.
It’s becoming a lot for the two of us to handle alone as this project and movement grows!
That’s it for this week, gang.
And to every one of you: stay strong, stay alert, stay kind, stay interested and vocal about UBI and other human rights movements, and stay tuned!
In love and solidarity,
Conrad Shaw and Deia Schlosberg