Open letter with prominent support

The introduction of a temporary basic income is receiving more support than ever before.

It is the political idea of the moment. Several petitions are currently calling for a basic income that secures people’s livelihoods to bridge the corona crisis. More than one million citizens have already signed – within a few weeks, the demand of a few individuals has become a broad social movement. The people who started the petitions have now joined forces. Among them is Susanne Wiest, whose petition no. 108191 is considered the largest ever submitted online to the German Bundestag.

In an open letter, the petition starters today addressed the members of the Bundestag, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Federal Ministry of Finance and Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel. In the letter, they appeal to politicians to respond to the demands of civil society and call on the Bundestag’s Petitions Committee to hold a hearing on the so-called crisis basic income as soon as possible:

Let us talk about this together now: how do we ensure that no one is left without an income that secures their livelihood in this unprecedented crisis? We urgently ask you to put our call for a crisis basic income for everyone on the political agenda as quickly as possible!

The open letter is supported by prominent figures such as the author and internet activist Kübra Gümüşay (“Sprache und Sein” – Language and Being), the musician Judith Holofernes (“Wir sind Helden”) and Götz Werner, founder of the dm-drogerie markt chain, as well as civil-society organisations and basic income initiatives.

With their joint appeal to the responsible ministries and members of parliament, the petition starters want to ensure that the demand for a crisis basic income is dealt with at the very next session of the Bundestag’s Petitions Committee. The letter sent today continues:

On 15 June 2020 you have the chance, in the German Bundestag, to send perhaps the most important signal of this crisis: we stand up not only for companies but for every single person!

FULL TEXT OF THE OPEN LETTER (German)

Mein Grundeinkommen (My Basic Income) is a non-profit NGO. It collects donations through crowdfunding and raffles them as unconditional basic incomes. The response is huge: founded six years ago, Mein Grundeinkommen today fuels the debate on the unconditional basic income with more than 1.7 million users and more than 130,000 large and small donors. Link to our website (German)