A minimum income was tried in Canada, and it worked

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-mincome-experiment-dauphin

"Critics of basic income guarantees have insisted that giving the poor money would disincentivize them to work, and point to studies that show ​a drop in peoples' willingness to work under pilot programs. But in Dauphin—thought to be the largest such experiment conducted in North America—the experimenters found that the primary breadwinner in the families who received stipends were in fact not less motivated to work than before. Though there was some reduction in work effort from mothers of young children and teenagers still in high school—mothers wanted to stay at home longer with their newborns and teenagers weren’t under as much pressure to support their families—the reduction was not anywhere close to disastrous, as skeptics had predicted. "

Well there you go. Now we need to try this in the United States.  How about Rapid City, SD?

Burlington Vermont uses 100% renewable energy

So it IS possible!

So I guess this person won't be living in a tiny house

http://www.straight.com/news/817631/tiny-homes-are-merely-trendy-fantasy-not-affordable-housing-solution

"I don't want to be defeatist here, because I do admire people who refuse to accept that the world is given to us as is—and instead choose to live as if the maxim of their actions should become a universal truth. It's what remains so attractive about Thoreau's Walden experiment. But we can't laud tiny houses for their innovation without beginning by saying that the economic realities that necessitate it are a huge fucking problem that won't go away with vintage marine lightbulb cages or marble countertops. And we can't treat tiny houses squatting on hobby farms as the latest trend for the well-heeled lumbersexual set.
Stories like these spread the falsehood that consumers have a say in how their neighbourhoods, communities and cities are planned—while the evidence repeatedly shows that our urban agendas are set by developers. Laneway houses, microlofts, tiny houses—these are individuated solutions to social problems that require social fixes. Why can't we see the ingenuity and innovation so evident on this "tiny" scale at macro levels? Because building a wee home on a trailer and towing it out to Sooke just isn't an option for a struggling daycare professional or recently laid-off Target worker—and they shouldn't be promised that it is."

The main argument here is that tiny houses are not for everybody. True. I don't think any tiny house promoter is arguing that everybody should live in one. It's just an alternative. And it demonstrates that we don't really need 2000 square feet of space to feel comfortable.

Croatia helps their 1% - the BOTTOM 1%

http://rt.com/business/228311-croatia-erases-debt-poorest/

"Croatian government have gotten creditors on board a plan to erase the debts of some 60,000 poorest citizens. The “fresh start” scheme targets less than 1 percent of the entire debt, but is hoped to boost the economy in the long-term.
The unorthodox measure was voted for by the government on January 15 and comes into force on Monday. To be eligible to participate debtors must have no savings or property, have a debt no greater than about $5,100 and live on welfare or an income of no higher than $138 per month.
'We assess that this measure will be applicable to some 60,000 citizens,' Deputy Prime Minister Milanka Opacic said as he was introducing the bailout. 'Thus they will be given a chance for a new start without a burden of debt.'"

I look forward to seeing how this helps or hurts the economy overall.