Why read Give a Man a Fish?

Book cover of Give a Man a Fish: Reflections on the New Politics of Distribution

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In Give a Man a Fish James Ferguson examines the rise of social welfare programs in southern Africa, in which states make cash payments to their low income citizens. More than thirty percent of South Africa's population receive such payments, even as pundits elsewhere proclaim the neoliberal death of the…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Give a Man a Fish as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Daromir Rudnyckyj

Author

We often think that unemployed people are lazy or lack ambition.

Ferguson shows how in certain parts of the world the problem is not indolence but the fact that there are simply not enough jobs for all those who need employment or would like to work. With the acceleration of automation, offshoring, and artificial intelligence this situation could become far worse and ultimately create a great deal of social and political instability.

Ferguson documents how a number of states around the world have adopted universal basic income programs, in which poor people are provided funds by the government with no…

From Daromir's list on how anthropology helps us understand the economy.