The Coming Age of Imagination - Phil Teer

Description

Every adult paid a living wage. No strings attached.

Universal basic income is a very old idea that is fast becoming the radical idea of the twenty-first century. It could eradicate poverty and avoid a much-predicted dystopian future of automation and high unemployment – but it could also have an unexpected effect: an explosion of mass creativity.

Phil Teer draws insights from the creative and entrepreneurial effects of basic income experiments and weaves them into stories of how the Romantic poets invented consumerism; artists regenerated cities like New York, Glasgow and Berlin; and creative geniuses like David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Kurt Vonnegut, Haruki Murakami and many others liberated their creative spirits and transformed their lives.

The Coming Age of Imagination is a creative manifesto for universal basic income. When we no longer have to worry about money, we have the opportunity to be creative on a mass scale. Simply put, basic income changes everything.

Review

I was intrigued by the description of this book and was eager to find out more. Although the book could certainly be used in academic research as there is lengthy citation to back up what is written, I enjoyed it as a non fiction read. 

I liked the style of Phil Teer - it put me in mind of my lectures when I did my Masters degree and felt it was not preaching but just discussing "what if". As soon as I had a thought - the reference appeared! Maslows hierachy and Charles Handy were both referenced and so I felt like my own thinking was being acknowledged.

I hadn't realised that this universal basic income idea had already been trialled in other parts of the world and the stats made interesting reading. Again - this was not put over in some academic way with charts and diagrams, but in an easy read. 

The part of the book I enjoyed the most was the background to modern entrepreneurs and musicians. Also how the romantic poets invented consumerism. This part of the book is worth reading even if you are not interested in the universal basic income idea. In fact I think it would make a book in it's own right.

I'm giving this book four out of five stars. I did notice a little repetition in the writing. I did read the book right through, maybe if you dip in and out that won't be a problem and it is a reminder of what you've read.

My thanks to Netgalley for the ARC to review. It's out on 27 February 2020.