What is Universal Basic Income?
Universal Basic Income refers to a process by which people receive income regularly and unconditionally.
How does the provision of Universal Basic Income promote care and liberty?
When all members of the citizenry receive income, and share in the wealth of the nation, society becomes more equitable. For example, imagine a society in which there are 4 people, Gabriel, Sam, Kris, and Julian. Before the receipt of universal income their incomes looked like this:
- Gabriel $120,000 (60%)*
- Sam $50,000 (25%)
- Kris $25,000 (12.5%)
- Julian $5,000 (2.5%)
*(each individual’s portion of the total income)
If each individual in this society received $12,000 of universal basic income annually the resulting distribution would look like this:
- Gabriel $132,000 (53.2%)
- Sam $62,000 (25%)
- Kris $37,000 (14.9%)
- Julian $17,000 (6.85%)
As you can see, Julian’s portion of the total income has more than doubled while Gabriel’s has been reduced despite the receipt of UBI.
In addition to a more equitable distribution of income, UBI will be critical as we move from a society in which individuals have to work to survive into one in which people choose to work due to advances in technology.
Where does the UBI come from?
UBI can come from the taxes Americans already pay, tariffs, or by some of the new monies created by the treasury being distributed equally among the citizenry of the nation*.
How does utilizing UBI promote liberty?
UBI promotes liberty while discouraging dependency and stigma. In comparison to the traditional provision of government services to individuals, providing individuals UBI reduces inefficient behavior due to perverse incentives such as individuals being encouraged to work less in order to qualify for additional government benefits. However, the implementation of UBI through additions to the money supply would reduce the value of the money which has been already been earned by some members of society (as the government printing of money also does currently), and should be implemented judiciously.
*This is in contrast to the current system in which money is created (devaluing the dollars we currently hold) and given to banks to lend to the citizenry who must pay interest to obtain it.