Share the BIG News

A poem written by Tanya Davis for the ACT BIG Confernece 2025

Tuesday, August 19, 2025

To close our public event during the ACT BIG Conference this past June, Tanya Davis, the Island's poet laureate, perfomed a poem about Basic Income Guarantee. Read it below:

Follow Tanya's work here

I am at this conference as a poet, to listen, make connections, and synthesize
I am at this conference as a person living and working on PEI

I am here as a participant, an attendee
I brought my questions with me, and my curiosity
I am here to learn

I had a lot to read before I started writing this piece
because, I realized, I didn’t know much about basic income guarantees
something about money
something about a minimum for everybody

And it sounded good, but I did have questions
such as, how would it work
could we actually implement it
is it possible to just give money to everybody like that

In other words, even as a progressive leftist I have had my biases
even as a sort of socialist, I wasn’t totally buying it
even as the poet tasked with the act of describing it
I have been unsure, ignorant or uninformed of the story behind it

I lead with this to situate myself as an average member of the public
we don’t know what we don’t know until someone enlightens us
or until we approach our ignorance on our own accord

But that’s not always easy
we might we need a reason
or an invitation
or an open door

A confluence of people with skills to change the discourse
which could change the whole course of events

But before the good words reach enough ears at the right time
whole eras of change can lay dormant
entire paradigms of progress on pause

We may be poised for revolution, or just a better way to do things
we may have tools at the ready
we might have done enough studies
and have ample proof to back our theories and our claims
but until we have tended the roots of any stubborn assumptions
nothing new will bloom or change

And of course we’ve been trying to tend the roots
it’s just that they’re tangled
it’s just that it’s endless
it’s going to take every strategy we have in us
all of our audacity
and our incandescent rallying cries burning bright enough to shine through the fog of our tired
and outdated ideas

If we want to build more support for new ones
including something as unfamiliar to most folks as basic income guarantees
we’re going to have to tell different stories
and question the stories we’ve been listening to

This is a tall order, as you all surely know
there is a world order and powerful forces that don’t want to see it go
there is the fact that we don’t know what we don’t know
and so it’s hard to imagine something else

For instance, we’ve been living under capitalism for so long
that we can’t see the burning forest for the over harvested trees
we can’t see how we’ve been enticed by wants at the cost of unmet needs
and then set against each other in an illusion of scarcity

As if solidarity is only a catchphrase in the pamphlets of activists
and not a guiding principle that should be in all of our politics
as if divisive policy will solve any of this

This, our global suffering
this our local strife

The story of basic income cannot get a word in edgewise
we can’t hear it over the cheers of competition
well, every hero on a journey took a full meal with them
carefully packed by a worker in a kitchen
unpaid labour fuels major winnings
low wages keep the world as we know it spinning

Except the world as we know it is spinning way out of sync

Human value is intrinsic
at least it ought to be
and yet we equate worth with productivity
and we measure that productivity by its contribution to economy
thus attaching our value to the money that we make

Many people can’t hear a story about basic income because they’re still listening to stories
criticizing the welfare state
our ideas on poverty are outdated
there are people in power who still blame it on people with less power than them
instead of how it actually happens

Through crises of food and climate and housing
systemic oppression and structural violence
because the rights of the market are held and protected
above all else, including the people just trying to survive in it

What if we wanted to thrive in it would we appeal to hearts, or logic
what’s more impressive—a self-made man or the knowledge that no self is made out of context
no one gets rich in a bubble
no one is poor without someone else’s profit
many profit off of struggle
and that imbalance burdens all of us

Poverty is a result of poor policy
and poor policy is a mistake we could learn from and change
poor policy is a mistake, but it is only forgivable until it is a choice
a basic income guarantee could be an amends we make, it could be a stabilizing force
a resilient, life-changing strategy

If it is based in basic human rights and not charity
if it is indeed universal
freely given, unconditional
if the bureaucracy is minimal
and it sufficiently meets people’s needs, even though people’s needs differ

It should therefore be responsive, dynamic
a complement to other programs and services
with the aim for equitable access and opportunity for all

Regardless of specifics, we need a floor beneath which no one can fall

It’s a hard concept to grasp, kind of like we can’t collectively accept a financial ceiling
so billionaires’ bank accounts just keep climbing, unimpeded
less regulated than the hoops we all jump through to prove we are deserving
and assistance is needed

Like seas, poverty keeps rising
and the rift between the poor and rich keeps widening
the repercussions of this income inequality are so clear and so harmful
it’s understandable we might try to shirk responsibility, or deny our involvement

If we’re not in policy or politics, we might think we are absolved from the problem
or from trying to solve it
be that poverty or other inequities, it’s all related

So, to bring it back to the changing of stories
to bring it back to the shifting of minds
we can start in our communities
address our own biases
we can start close by

If I were to start with mine, I’d have to admit…
I too have a productivity complex
and I want people to know I work hard enough, so I can feel worthy myself
this is a tired idea that gets in my way
of fighting for the rights of everybody

What stories have we internalized that convinced us
only certain work is worthy
and dignity must be earned by toiling endlessly
and buying into the same systems
that are stripping the earth of its resources
and robbing the people of their joy

Joy should be affordable
like food and housing and care
like medicine and transportation
and the ability to participate in our communities, wherever and however we are

A basic income guarantee could be a part of this
it could be a move towards economic equity, an affirmation of dignity
it could help reduce gender-based violence and increase gender equality
it could be something to help lift people from poverty
a goal that this country has promised, a vow that the United Nations has sworn

Here on offer is one of the tools we could use
yes, it is doable
yes, people will still contribute
as much or more as we used to
while being valued intrinsically
our basic human dignity, our rights, even our righteous joy afforded

Indeed, we can afford it
we but this is not yet common knowledge
so let’s change the story
and share the BIG news.