While poverty has existed since the beginning of human history, our understanding of poverty and what can be done about it has changed over time. One concept is Universal Basic Income (UBI), an idea that has been around for hundreds of years but gained popularity in the early 1900s and more recently during the COVID-19 pandemic and the launch of AI. Each person would unconditionally receive a minimum income to cover their basic needs. So far, there have only been pilot programs testing this idea, but other similar social welfare programs may offer insight into how UBI could be implemented in the future.

To examine the idea of Universal Basic Income and its strengths and weaknesses, our speaker, Peter Slattery, will provide a brief overview of the history of poverty, some of the ideas surrounding the development of UBI, and examples of related pilot programs. For those interested in reading about poverty and UBI ahead of time, he recommends Matthew Desmond’s book, Poverty, by America and this article: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/universal-basic-income/

Peter Slattery spent much of his career serving people who are struggling with poverty and he’s passionate about alleviating poverty. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics and is currently the Executive Director at a nonprofit organization in Wilmington, Delaware called St. Patrick’s Center, which provides meals, groceries, clothing, showers, paratransit, and social services to people in Wilmington’s East Side neighborhood. Prior to St. Patrick’s Center, for eight years he served in Philabundance, a hunger relief organization in Philadelphia, where he oversaw the building of a $12.5 million facility for culinary job training and helped develop the strategy that doubled food distribution during the COVID-19 pandemic. Peter and his family live in the Ardens..

Meeting ID: 870 3686 9112 Passcode: 957929
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The Scholars Gild, a part of the Arden Club, meets on the third Tuesday of the month, September through June. We usually use a hybrid Live-Zoom model. There are sometimes technical glitches so your patience is appreciated.

There is no fee to attend Scholars Gild discussions.  We would like to encourage all to make a donation live or at http://ardenclub.org/donate/.  Your support helps keep the virtual and in-person lights on at the Club and makes possible dynamic programming like concerts, theater, dance, and of course, our Scholars Gild evenings. 

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