•April 5, 2017•

By Jim Nowlan
NP Guest Columnist

This proposal for “American Service Credits” is driven by two premises. First, the well-to-do who pay most of our income taxes hate to see their money go to people who don’t do anything for it.

Second, most people want to do something constructive with their lives, but may not know how in a world where stunning advances in artificial intelligence are eliminating much traditional human work.

American Service Credits would be a locally administered, federally funded program of credits redeemable in money, in return for approved services rendered to others, to one’s community and even to one’s self.

Services would be reimbursed at the local minimum wage up to a maximum of, say, $25,000 for the individual and maybe $40,000 for a couple.

Persons eligible for the credits would be the unemployed and underemployed. Those having some paid work would be able to earn credits, but only up to a total of $25,000 in total per person income.

Credits that might supplant compensated work would not be approved for activity.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.