Facebook's Billionaire CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, Wants the Government to Give Free Money to People As a Basic Income

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently returned from a trip to Alaska, having learned about the state’s Permanent Fund Dividend. It was designed to redistribute the state’s oil revenue to each eligible resident, which piqued his interest. Each resident received slightly more than $1000 in 2016.



In a Facebook post, Zuckerberg said:



“Seeing how Alaska put this dividend in place reminded me of a lesson I learned early at Facebook: organizations think profoundly differently when they’re profitable than when they’re in debt. When you’re losing money, your mentality is largely about survival. But when you’re profitable, you’re confident about your future and you look for opportunities to invest and grow further. Alaska’s economy has historically created this winning mentality, which has led to this basic income. That may be a lesson for the rest of the country as well.”