A Street Magazine for the Age of Fools(a)

"The Big Issue! NT$100 a copy!" Since last spring, you may have noticed this catchphrase around Taipei's MRT station exits. Or maybe you've spotted the orange-vested, ID-badged sellers waving the latest issue high in the air.

The Big Issue (TBI), originally from the UK, launched a Taiwanese edition packed with articles from professional journalists and authors in April 2010. What stands out most about the magazine is how it's sold. The salespeople are all homeless, and out of each issue's cover price, half goes to the publisher to cover costs and the remaining half goes to the seller. By combining a unique business model with a means of helping the less fortunate, TBI has become a model social enterprise, which aims to provide a social good rather than simply to make a profit.

It is a fine Friday morning in the summer, and Li Long-zhu has to head to TBI's distribution center at Taipei's Huashan Creative Park to pick up the latest issue. Then he pushes his cart full of magazines to the plaza in front of Shin Kong Mitsukoshi. As he makes the trek, he thinks to himself, "This issue has not been out long, and with the weekend coming up, that should make for some good sales today!"

Li had to drop out of high school to find work at 14. At 20, he married a Chinese woman and moved up to Taipei from Yunlin. Together they had two children while Li worked pressing clothes for a garment factory. That was back when Taiwan's clothing industry was booming. Orders were piling up, and he made NT$5 for each garment pressed. He worked 10-plus hours a day, making NT$50,000 to NT$60,000 a month with ease. His personal best was making NT$110,000 in one month.

愚人世代的街头杂志《THE BIG ISSUE》

『大志杂志！1本 100！』自去年春天起，或许你曾在台北捷运出口注意到这个口号，也可能瞥见这群身着橘色背心，挂着识别证的贩卖员，正兜售手中高举的杂志。

　　这本源自英国，名为《The Big Issue》（TBI）的杂志，去年 4 月起发行台湾版《大志杂志》，由专业记者、作家编写杂志内容；最特别之处，在于这份刊物的通路，仅限无家可归的街头流浪者贩卖，每本售价 100 元，贩卖员每卖出 1 本，即可得到 50 元收入，另外 50 元则归杂志社所有，做为内容生产成本。结合商业模式与照顾弱势的《TBI》，以『社会企业』为定位，意指将营运所得用于追求社会目的，而非私人营利的经营型态。

　　夏日晴朗的周 5 上午，李隆柱展开每日例行行程，先到《TBI》位于华山园区里的发行站进货补书，再拉着推车，一路走到台北车站新光三越百货前的广场，他心想：『正值月初发刊不久，加上周末假期将至，今天生意应该不错。』

　　李隆柱 14岁国中还没毕业就得出外讨生活，20 岁与大陆籍妻子结婚后从云林搬到台北，接连生了 2 个孩子，当时他在成衣厂熨烫衣服维生。彼时正值台湾成衣产业的颠峰荣景，订单爆量，工资以烫 1 件衣服 5 元计算，他每天早出晚归，工作 10 多个小时，1个月挣个 5、6万元不成问题，最高纪录甚至曾月入 11万元。