UBI is a somewhat uneasy mix of two objectives: poverty relief and the rejection

of work as the defining purpose of life. The first is political and practical;
the second is philosophical or ethical.
The main argument for UBI as poverty relief is, as it has always been, the inabi
lity of available paid work to guarantee a secure and decent existence for all.
In the industrial age, factory work became the only source of income for most pe
ople
a source that was interrupted by bouts of unemployment as the industrial ma
chine periodically seized up. The labor movement responded by demanding work or m
aintenance. Acceptance of maintenance in lieu of work was reflected in the creati
on of a system of social security: welfare capitalism.
The aim of welfare capitalism was explicitly to provide people an income
typical
ly through pooled compulsory insurance during enforced interruptions of work. In
no sense was income maintenance seen as an alternative to work. As the idea of
interruption from work was extended to include the disabled and women bringing u
p children, so entitlements to income maintenance increased beyond the capacity
of social insurance, with benefits paid to eligible individuals from general tax
ation.
In the 1980s, US President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Tha
tcher unwittingly extended the scope of welfare further, as they dismantled inst
itutions and legislation designed to protect wages and jobs. With both left to t
he market, in work benefits, or tax credits, were introduced to enable employed wo
rkers to earn a living wage. At the same time, conservative governments