Growing up in a family where money was scarce, Floyd Marinescu (BMath ’02) saw firsthand the impacts of working class poverty. “Money was a source of a lot of conflict in my house,” he said. “I knew that if there was financial security, it would have been a lot better for my family.”
A fan of Star Trek, Marinescu yearned for the egalitarian, poverty-less society depicted on the show, often wondering, “How do we get to that future?”
When he heard about basic income, he felt he had discovered a key piece of the answer. “I was amazed that you could have a market system without poverty,” he recalled.
The more he read about basic income, the more passionate he became. In 2019, he launched UBI Works, a non-profit that shares knowledge and mobilizes support for the cause. He hopes to convince voters that basic income will not only reduce poverty but also fuel our economy and help people lead more creative, fulfilling lives.
“I believe innovation most often comes from inspiration, not desperation,” Marinescu said. “Innovators like Newton and Botticelli had the security to tinker and create. I look at basic income as a way to create psychological safety for our entire society so that we unlock people's potential and enable them to pursue their best selves.”
Read the full story from the Waterloo Magazine to learn more.