text: People enjoy the sunny weather in front of the Niesen mountain in Neuhaus near Interlaken, Switzerland, on May 5, 2016. (Photo: Peter Schneider, EPA) 
   
   GENEVA, Switzerland — Chalk it up to Swiss affluence. Voters here will decide next month whether all 8 million citizens and legal residents should be guaranteed a generous monthly income, something no country in the world has ever done. 
   
   On June 5, Swiss voters will weigh in on a radical proposal that would mandate the government to guarantee $2,600 a month tax-free to every adult citizen and legal resident, and $650 to each child. 
   
   The payment would be provided to everyone, regardless of work status, income level, or wealth. It is a benefit few countries can afford. But then, Switzerland is among the world's richest nations, with a per capita income of about $85,000, 40% higher than that in the USA. 
   
   The idea of an unconditional basic income is not new. It is being discussed by various cities in the Netherlands, Finland, Canada, New Zealand and other nations. But Switzerland is the first country to actually vote on a guaranteed income at the national level. 
   
   The latest polls show the proposal likely will go down in defeat, though supporters say they hope to build support for it in the coming weeks. 
   
   The initiative was put on the ballot by a group of artists, writers and intellectuals who made use of Switzerland's unique system of direct democracy, which allows any citizen to bring an issue to a referendum by collecting 100,000 legitimate signatures on a petition. 
   
   "This is a great idea," said Chloe Hubert, a student at the University of Geneva. "I only work on weekends, so this income would really help." 
   
   Though Swiss salaries are among the highest in the world, supporters say the stipend would offer people an option of reducing their working hours, while maintaining a decent standard of living. 
   
   “It would lead to a more motivated workforce and more humanized, stable and productive economy,” said Che Wagner, the initiative’s co-organizer and campaign manager. 
   
   Under the proposed law, the government would guarantee that every Swiss adult has at least $2,600 in monthly income after taxes. So if a person has no income at all, he or she will receive the full amount. If the person earns $1,600 now, the supplement would be $1,000. 
   
   Marilola Wili, 21, is part of the campaign team. (Photo: Basic Income Switzerland) 
   
   Someone who currently earns, say, $6,500 month would not receive any money from the government but $2,600 of it would not be taxed. 
   
   For those getting welfare or other social benefits, payments of up to $2,600 a month would be replaced by the new basic income. Anything over this amount would continue to be provided as a separate payment and taxed accordingly. 
   
   Theoretically, a family of two non-working adults and two children at home would be eligible for $6,500 a month, or $78,000 a year tax-free. That's nearly twice the after-tax income of a typical American family. 
   
   The proposal has many critics. In a recent interview with Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, parliamentarian Raymond Clottu argued that the giveaway would "put at risk a system that motivates people to work and get training. So we should try to improve it, not bring in basic income which would destroy the motivation to work." 
   
   He and other opponents also note that financing the scheme, estimated to cost about $200 billion a year, would strain the government’s coffers. 
   
   The initiative’s backers say the plan would be funded, among other sources of revenue, by increasing Switzerland’s 8% value added tax. 
   
   The government counters that other taxes would have to rise and spending slashed to afford such a generous giveaway. 
   
   “Considerable cutbacks or tax rises would be necessary to finance this basic income, which could not replace today’s social security system entirely,” the government warns on its website, urging voters to reject the initiative. 
   
   As the concept of basic income gets traction across Europe, could a similar policy be adopted in the U.S.? 
   
   “Before it could be taken seriously, the middle class would need to experience far more job and wage loss than it has already,” Robert Reich, former U.S. secretary of Labor and now professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, told USA TODAY. 
   
   “Unfortunately, those losses are inevitable,” he added. “We'll have a serious discussion about a minimum basic income about a decade from now.” 
   
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   The idea of granting every citizen a no-strings-attached universal basic income is still treated as a utopian idea in America. In Switzerland, they’re a month away from voting on it. 
   
   The measure is not likely to pass! Still, it’s a notable step for the basic income movement. This appears to be the first time an entire nation will put the idea to a vote. The Swiss proposal would give “$2,600 a month tax-free to every adult citizen and legal resident, and $650 to each child.” The current proposal is also means-tested, meaning that those who earned more than $2,600 a month would not get the government stipend, although that part of their earnings would be tax-exempt. This makes it a not-quite universal basic income, but at least something within spitting distance of one. 
   
   If you give children nothing it would be more affordable. Think about it. They can’t vote. 
   
   This vote will probably fail, and it is thoroughly possible that the measure is not perfectly conceived anyhow. But with global economic leaders discussing “helicopter money” schemes and prominent people of all political persuasions arguing for basic income to counteract technology’s disruption of human jobs, a national vote feels like one more step on the road to legitimacy. 
   
   I hope that this free money becomes real in my lifetime and NOT after.
target: – On June 5, Swiss voters will weigh in on a measure that's never been implemented in any country: make sure every citizen and legal resident gets $2,600, every month, tax-free ($650 for kids)—no matter what their employment situation or income level, USA Today reports. What Gawker says is perceived as the "utopian idea" of an unconditional basic income has been bandied about by individual cities in countries such as the Netherlands and Canada, but Switzerland would be the first nation to go for it. A group of Swiss intelligentsia was able to cull the 100,000 signatures required under the Swiss system to get it on the ballot. "It would lead to a more motivated workforce and [a] more humanized, stable, and productive economy," the initiative's co-founder says. The estimated $200 billion-a-year plan would be funded in part by raising the country's value-added tax (currently at 8%), its supporters say. Critics, however, say other taxes would have to rise, too, and fear the plan would sap people's motivation to work. Someone with no income would reap the full $2,600 a month tax-free, while others making some money would have their income supplemented to reach that cap (so if you already make $1,000, the government would fork over $1,600). And if you already bring in more than that $2,600 limit? That amount of your monthly income wouldn't be taxed. USA Today spells out what that would mean for two parents who didn't work with two kids at home: a combined family income, tax-free, of $78,000 a year. It doesn't appear likely the vote will go the initiative's way.