Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Arab Humanist: The Necessity of Basic Income

Rate this book
"Arab Humanist: The Necessity of Basic income" is a human rights book that discusses freedom of mind and financial freedom for all people. It advocates for Universal Basic Income (UBI) because it could consequently help in freeing people from injustice and oppression of many forms.

137 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 26, 2019

2 people are currently reading
6 people want to read

About the author

Nohad A. Nassif

1 book5 followers
I am Arab-American, originally from Lebanon. I’m a humanist, an atheist, and a progressive.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
8 (57%)
4 stars
3 (21%)
3 stars
2 (14%)
2 stars
0 (0%)
1 star
1 (7%)
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Profile Image for Arbor Barrow.
Author 12 books15 followers
January 1, 2020
Arab Humanist is a tragically beautiful semi-autobiographical story about a woman named LouLou who moved from one personal struggle to another in a desperate search for self, independence, autonomy, and self-actualization. Seeking her agency, LouLou navigates repression, freedom, and the toxic and positive expectations of the people around her.

The book is framed by a narrative argument for a universal income, punctuating the story with a step back into the bigger picture about how a universal income would lift women like LouLou out of poverty, societal insecurity, familial and partner abuse, and educational pits. This is one of those important stories to read to understand the struggles, successes, and lives of real women in their own voices. It’s also an important point of evidence in the case for a Basic Universal Income. Historically, women from underrepresented classes and races, have suffered the most from income inequality, therefore a UBI would be a boon to women like LouLou.

With her own unique art to illustrate the story Nohad tells us a story that is as much an autobiography as it is a narrative digression about the human condition. Nohad's storytelling pulls you into a world and point of view that is not often told but often lived by many women. That alone makes this story worth every cent and every moment spent reading. I gave it five stars because the writing is beautiful, the story compelling, and the information opened my mind to people and ideas I hadn’t considered before. Also, as I listened to the audiobook, the narrators do an excellent job of telling the story with emotion and care.
Profile Image for Otto Lehto.
478 reviews212 followers
October 30, 2019
Out of all the books about basic income, this is perhaps the least expected. It combines two seemingly unrelated things: 1) The quest of a young woman to escape the clutches of theocratic and patriarchal domination. 2) The quest of humanity to solve the problem of income security and freedom. What is the connection? It's simple, really. It's freedom. Non-domination. Self-ownership. Autonomy. Women need freedom from the domination of men, and the freedom to control resources of their own. This is why, the book argues (often elliptically and with insufficient argumentation), we all need a UBI.

The book is short and feels like an extended essay. It is confessional, honest, and self-exculpatory. It is a feminist text as well as a humanist text but with a practical, mundane approach. It is written in an engaging and personal but somewhat low-brow, prosaic style that doesn't break any new ground.

The book contains some cool insights. Its basic premise is fantastic and I would love to see it developed further. In today's world, we need to see the feminist struggle against religious-patriarchal orthodoxy as related to the struggle for a basic income. And we need to see both of them as related to the humanist project of the liberation of the individual. This is a good start, but the execution of the story doesn't quite reach the heights of similar and better books out there.
1 review
March 2, 2020
Nassif writes with a passionate voice about women's rights and basic income. One can easily sympathize with her human rights causes. She tells us the same deep message in 3 formats: story, analysis, and graphics. It's different from the usual graphic novels out there. It's obvious, it was done her way, and I respect that.
1 review
February 26, 2020
A friend lent me this interesting little book. I finished it in one afternoon, and it has stayed with me since I read it a few months ago.
The story of Loulou is engaging, and the issues presented are real and universal. The Arab-American author presents herself with extreme honesty, and I believe that's a rare find.
Her art pieces are quite deep and emotional. They go well with the story but still have their own extended story.
Profile Image for Loix33.
29 reviews
August 5, 2020
(Garbage) and shows why people should not abandon their Family, Country, and religion . and due to lack of details, I think a lot of the events are fabricated.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews