I think about UBI a lot. I hope it happens.
Strange how history repeats itself.

This morning I read an interesting tidbit (see the quote way down at the bottom) which could very well apply to those of us in modern society who have been excluded from the opportunity of gaining an education because we live in a region that sees fit to provide advanced education to only a select group.

“Ahh but Canadians are so well off because we are entitled to free education until we finish high school, grade 12, here in New Brunswick. You should be grateful, not complain. Think about the poor kids in Biafra or somewhere. Shut up and eat your crusts”

Yes, there was a time when high school education was enough. However, this is no longer the case. Without some sort of education or training beyond high school you are up S— Creek, or in polite, poli-correct double-speak, you face exclusion.

You cannot operate a small business because you have not sufficient resources. You watch as other small local businesses around you struggle to survive and shelves are no longer stacked with made-in-Canada products.

Something you need that is not available locally? Buy it online, they say. For that you need a credit card. Last time I checked, banks can refuse you a credit card. The reason? They don’t say? Might we be refused because we are not on their preferential list of acceptable people with whom they wish to do business?

The direct result of such exclusion is easy to see. You are invisible. Your name will not appear on any preferential list of people who qualify for decent jobs, housing, bank loans, insurance, mortgages, government grants, forgivable loans, credit cards and all those other little perks which are so taken for granted in today’s world.

Ahhhh yes, the quote that started me off on this morning’s little uncomfortable blurt.

Well, to finally get to the point, here is the quote, “Until they had emancipated themselves by individual or joint wealth, or in some other way, they appear to have lived very much on the sufferance of the clan. The majority of them remained poor and had little occasion or inclination for testing the scope or existence of their rights. It is probable that the condition of even these was not on the whole worse than that of modern agricultural labourers. Their position was one of rightlessness rather than slavery; they were tolerated rather than bound.”

Source: https://www.libraryireland.com/Brehon-Laws/Bothachs.php

Margaret from Bathurst, New Brunswick, Canada