The exploitation objection to UBI, which goes hand-in-hand with the reciprocity objection, is essentially the following. Most of the goods people might buy with UBI require labor. Therefore, people who receive UBI benefit from the labor of others with no obligation to contribute their labor to production. Opponents say that this feature of UBI allows […]
The above discussion answers one of the most common arguments against UBI, the allegation that it provides something for nothing in violation of a principle of reciprocity under which everybody who gets something gives something back. The phrase “UBI is something for nothing” has it exactly backwards: property-based economies without UBI are something for nothing. […]
The “work ethic” means different things in different contexts. Probably the most relevant definition of it is the belief that everyone who can work for what they get, but no such principle can be used to defend the existing economic system. Dana Fradon, New Yorker Cartoons The science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein included an excellent […]
Editor’s note: This post is Part 4 of the series on Mandatory Participation by Karl Widerquist. Earlier parts have been also posted in this blog. — People who are introduced to UBI often ask, “What about incentives?” UBI helps fix one of the biggest incentive problems in the market today: the lack of incentive for […]
It’s wrong for anyone to come between another person and the resources they need to survive. No person or group has the moral authority to impose conditions on anyone else’s access to the resources they need to survive. But that’s exactly what we do. Our rules grant control of most of the Earth’s resources and […]
Editor’s note: Karl Widerquist, Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University-Qatar), has recently launched a new 17-part series on his blog titled “Mandatory Participation on Trial”. USBIG is going to repost this series with our audience on our blog. Part 1 of this series was released, and the remaining 16 parts will be released every week for […]
Michael W. Howard, professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Maine and past president of the U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network, published published an article entitled “The U.S. Could Help Solve Its Poverty Problem with a Universal Basic Income” in Scientific American. In this opinion piece, he explains how UBI would lift many people from […]
Michael Lewis Recently, my spouse and I were talking about the cases of Carolyn Bryant Donham and Amy Cooper. Donham is the White woman whose lie, back in 1955, helped lead to the murder of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old, Chicago born, boy who, while visiting family in Mississippi, was brutally murdered by two White men. […]
Michael Lewis I’ve been following debates about basic income, guaranteed income, and similar policies for a long time. This semester, for the first time, I’m teaching a course called The Critical Race Theory Debate and Public Policy. This is why, while listening to a recent episode of this Forward podcast, my ears perked up. Carly […]
It is an honor to introduce myself to our readers and I am excited to have this opportunity to help shape the future of USBIG as the Interim President! I’m an Asian-American woman who grew up in California’s East Bay Area and now reside in Portland, Oregon. I grew up very passionate about animals, fostering […]