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    12 views15 pages

    Untitled

    Uploaded by

    Binita Shrestha

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 15
    Arguing for Basic Income Ethical Foundations for a Radical Reform —_+__ Edited by PHILIPPE VAN PARUS 1 Competing Justifications of Basic Income Philippe Van Parijs 1. A Radical Refor leis eautifly,dsarminay simple ea. Under varity of ames — state bonus and sil ered social wage and socal dividend, guaran teed income and citizens wage, clizenship iacome and demogrant fexstence income abd universal grat i as ben endicated, sing the widest cage of arguments. Liberty and equality, efficiency and Community. common owacrship ofthe cath and eq sharing i the ‘benefits of technical progress, the eb ofthe labor market and the Aignty of the poor, the ght aginst voemployment sod inhumane ‘working conditions, aginst the desertification of the countryside and Interregional inequalities, the vay of co-operatives and the pommo= tion of adult education, autonomy fom bases, hushands an fren cats al have been lave in favour of what wile alld bee, ‘tcordance with peating English wage a Basie income. ‘A basic income iam income wncondtonlly paid o all on an individual bass, without means test or work reqaremen” In other ‘words. itis fran of maim income guarantee tat fers fom the {hat now exis in various European counties by trae of the fac tht ‘sai 1. toinvduas ater than households 2. respective of any income from ober sources and 53 athout requiring any present or past work performance, the walinnes to accep ajo if ffered® Thus, the expression “base income meant here to convey both the notion that granted by vr of an unconditional entitlement, and the idea that any income fram other sources will ome om top of he thse i provides. i nor, owever, meant to sggest 2 nk with 30 called basic needs. AS the expression wil be used ere, basi income ain inci al hort of swell a exceed whatever level of income ‘emed siento cover a person's base needs? Eting guaranteed minimum income s9slems ~ the UK's soi security, the Netherands bijstand, Delgum’s minimes, Germany's Sosithif, France's revnu minimum dinserton, ete vary 10 the extent to which the three distinctive features ae acaaly absent. But both in peinciple and in practic, they all remain strongly conditional, and heace vr far fom a genuine basic income. Although basi income, by definition, aecesany possesses all thre features, nothing in ‘etniion prevents tro beng itrduced alongside oer wasters the Tight to which, or the level of which, would remain conditional pon hovschold composition, income from ater sourees, sei insurance contributions, willingness to work, and so on. Ifa ai income were Introduced, the cuttent levels of pensions, unemployment bent "uudent grants, and s0 forth, would no doubt rie significant adjus ‘ments, bt the intexducton ofa busi iocome, a uch, does aot demand {hat they shouldbe serapped ‘A tiie income door not difer just from exiting. guaranteed minimum income systems Hao ile, thou to lesser extent, om forcale! negative mome tax proposal. Wile they usualy sare the {ied feature with basic income proposals ~ no work requiem i imposed ~ negative income tax proposals do not wally shar the fis ~ they offen operate at howsebold level ~ and never the second by Aetnaition, negative income Ua schome can determine the level of transfer to which a persn ora Household ented (i 2) only i the light of information abou income from other sources. In ths Sense, the fundamental iffreace hetween basi income and 4 negative Income {ax is thatthe former operates ex ame, whereas the later operates ost Ths distinction is othogonal to - though sometimes confused with the distinction between those guaranteed minimum income schemes ‘which rate what wen aed» poverty or unemployment rp they ‘destroy pecimiary incentives to perorm pad work 3 he oto ofthe Income sale and thove which do not. On pape, a individal negative Income tk and a busi income can yield exact the same distibtion of pasttacand-ansfer incomes In particu, i bot cases, taxation can fe ~ and usualy designed i such a way that net income tes ak ‘rns incomne es at al levels of income ~ dat a sucha way that he poverty tap isin principle abolished. In Both eases, However it could also he designed in such away that net income would oe ris a gross income inzeasesboow some threshold level tht sich a wy that the negative income ta rate the ‘clawback teen the Howest earings is 100 per cet (See Figure 1-1) “This potential wenttyof the dstibutios of net income generated by basic income and negative income tx schemes exists ony on Pape, however, because ia the real world st does amie a tremendous Silereace whetber the minimam income garantc given to all ek fant no questions asked ~ as itis under 4 base income scheme ~ o¢ “eter ii given ony to those who frm out to havea, ox provide sHlgoate evidence tht they ow have, an insulin income, Foe this ‘eason, 4 negative income tax i undoubtedly worse fom the bene Seiavies standpoint than the “eancaly equivalent asc income scheme, yet it doesnot deserve the bad mame it has onthe Left beats fsciacome “ro a ofits association with right-wing economists suc as Milton Frieda. * ‘Kexping the lve ofthe minimum income unchanged, replacing exsing | "European gusranteed minimum schemes bya neptive comet ofthe ‘ype proposed by Friedman (Le without a poverty tap. asin Figure 1B) would be ~ other things remaining tual ~ an unambiguous improvement for te benef” 2. Why Now? “The ida ofa base income it by no means new. In Brian, for example, it canbe raed ack a lest the end ofthe First World Wa, when [eriand Russel ageetd it a way of eomining the appeal of both social and anarchism, while Quaker and Labour Paty member Called Deanis Milner was working ot, in a short book, the fist ‘elaborate proposal fora genuine basic income But only i the 19805 ‘id Wt begin to atract more than oeasional attention. In several West European countncs, a growing umber of academics ~ but abo of pola and socal organizations ~ have made i the focus of 3m ever {Expanding discussion” Once dsmised asthe ‘dee feof hal of| ranks, itis now Becoming an essential ingredient in any serious ‘scusson of the ftie of advanced capt counteies” Why? “The fist part of ths book (Socioeconomic Background) aims to answer this question. The two chapters i oatains ~ one by labour ‘conomit (Guy Standing) and one by 4 soil theont (las Ore) both of them among the main protagonists of the current European ‘debate on base icoene ~ show how the need to take the late seiusly has grown out of a number of powerful trends and the gradual realization ofthe inadequay of conventional poles i the new context rested as ceslt of thew trends I refer the reader to these te contributions fora detailed analysis, and shall reset mye ere 10 "tresing two factors which I Believe tobe of paramount impocance in explaining the growing saliency of the basi income discussion. ‘One i that it can ao loager be assumed that an overaheiming majority of households can cover their hase needs thanks othe wages they owe tothe job one of thet members curently Rol of 10 the benefits they owe tothe jo one oftheir members use To old. Under this assumption, caval (othe conception ofthe madera welfate sae the safety nto social sistance could be confined to a marginal ~ an eal, shrinking set of ase or vasous retson, ths ow very fat i ever further ~ fom being the ene. Throughout Esrope, an increasing number of hosneolds have fad Yo ey on socal tance tnd fave become caught im the net provides, The Jot impact of technical change and the inermtionaiztion of wakets te making it incressngly dificult for the economies of advanced capitals counties to generate 2 sufficient qumber of jobs that can be profane while roving those who had them with 3 living wae, Te outcome ofthis proces erasing, “dual ecomomy’, "woth set in Iich the mow sgntican divide, a far materi welire concer, {0 Tonge the one that separates captalsts rom workers, but the one that separates those who. hold proper jobs fom the rest of the populition, These is no easy way of fighting this tendency. Bat dhe feplacement of the safety net. in which the weakest and the uluck get tapped, by «fie unconditional floor, on which they can securely stand Mr oter words, the feplacement aa conditional minanurs income deheme’ by genuine basic income ~ increasingly Weed a8 a0 {ndipensbe rent many such strategy A" second facor. of more ieoogkal mature, is hardly less important, in parca on the Let, Aer the spectacular elle of {East European socalsm, there ae few people =i any ~ with an tmsathedeonvicton tat socialism, or evens tga septa irtoth desirable and possible in Western Europe wii our Utne. ‘Ate those who have lst his conviction left wit nothing to hope for ut the survival of the exsing nelle sate or, at best, some marital improvement ais Suture or se? According 10 many of those on the Let who ae arping for base sncome, thi nea no be the ease. For the introduc of haste income not just Teale actor improvement inthe fanctioing of the welfare sae: 6a profound reform that belongs inthe same league asthe abolition of savey the incoction of univers stage. Indeed can argably be viewed 352 way of pursuing the reical ideal to which socialism was ~ or should have been ~ only a means, while unapologecally discarding 3 tol which has now proved ~ ova ay eat, ow widely eeved 10 be ~ Inadequate In other word, ean be Med a6 capa road to communis" Furthermore if i some county, at some tine, seals ‘were agai to become a reais possibilty, asc nome does not cease to be relevant. For among those who comin to lee ina desable and fase fea of sociale, bat income is becoming increasing Popular asa cetalinredkent of the uepeint they advocate” Bath Imove modest snd move radial cha the ation of public ownership of the means of production, the ea of x totaly uoroniionl income kinds the hope that noe all major steps towards the emancipation of ‘humankind! are behind ur another oe thin reach, What Do We Need Foundations For? ‘Theres, however, one femiable ideologies obstae to such tp: the fecing widely spread from the far Right tothe far Left of the ecorate, and often vigorously expressed by both poliicians and ‘academics ~ tha intoducig a base income would be unfair that i Would amouat to a isitatonataaton of feeding 0 the explo ta of had worker by those able-bodied people who would choose to lise on ther base incomes “Tothis challenge ands importance, the present volume owes its ery cexience. For if the advoates of basic incomes are to meet ths ‘hullenge, they cana content themselves wth para lmited arg ‘ments ~ ay, 10 the elect that a hase income would provide 2 more eetve way of fighting poverty, long-term unemployment ofthe do Society, They eed to spell outa consistent and plausie conception of the jst or good society which could provide fn foundations for the Jegtimacy of an unconditional come As we shall srl ae, ths nota mater of simply appising Io ths paral ove some pre- onecved bbectarian or egltara weal nthe very proves of relating base income Yo such teas, one is forced to question, clarity and felormulate some of the most central pincipee of macem polite philosophy. Whats Wbery? What equality? What i efficiency? How fan they be combincd? His do the demands of justice relate tothe ‘concer with community? I there any oom toda fora plausible ade politcal philosophy tat does aoc tra out 10 be some version of Ll Hteralsen? These trios questons, at we stl see are ental othe debate This book, a8 2 onsequence, isnot just & major substaNire| ontbution to the daewsson ofan important policy sve. By gong 10 and fo between abstract pringples and conctte implications, by intertwining analytical distinctions and empl cli, by tying 10 ‘combine police! reevance and intellectual rigour, by. question he boundaries between pre-established pits = Mirna Kal, for example ~ and by displaying sharp disagreement as well 3y honest comeesions if auo eonsiutes an exemplar of contemporary politcal Philosophy a work, Inthe remainder ofthis Tnrevtion, shall ot uy to summarize the chia arguments which make up the tlk of ths volume, and even ess fo sete in advance the tsues on which contabutors dares. What 1 wil ry todo sly out the landeape, by presenting a sketchy exitcal| Survey ofthe main ethical argument that hive been fered in favour of 2 tase income. The survey mikes no claim to eing imparts, ¥en ‘hough Ihave deliberately retained fom speling out my own Views on the subject" Nor docs mike a clin to Being exhaustive ough oes, | hope, provide enough historical and concep hackground to able readers unfair with contemporary cori: of jie to make Sense ofthe arguments of subsequent contbutions by understani how they tint a wider theoreti icusion. 1 LIBERTY 4. Compensation forthe lningement of Common Ownership Rights 1100 cart, but right, not bounty but justice, tat Xam pleading for" (Paine, 1796: 612, 617). AS ths statement by one of most ouspoken foreinners of baie income strongly spget, the ery Unconditional mature of such an income makes st quite mater to look forte foundations n a ght-based sppraach” Sealed libertarian or otoriearenifement theories of justice are therefore an obvious Place to start our investigation. Rights, according 10 these theois, ate legally prior to soil nstatons, which can be us ony they respect these sighs" How could such arghs‘based appeeach just a asc ‘Ona libertarian account, the jst dtebution ie that esas fom soluntry tancctions. Clearly, such a entenom does no impose a Particlar pattern on the dstburion of income, and it may therefore scm that Sn attempt to provide Pas income with Reraran found- tone f doomed from the sar. Voluntary transactions yild just Aistibation, however, oly f they operate om a set of eine endowments. These endowments ae often themselves the outcoase of| ountary transactions, fut ther constituent parts must lnately ‘riginate in (italy nosed) natare If there is ier ease foe 3 Isic income would seem mst be rooted inthe rls that govern the appropriation of natal resnurses, of ~ ae these roles re ffen falled = in Some principle of orginal appropriation. This principle se ', of course, a nonstate if bs down to proliming "Fest come, fist served" if sats that every unappeopdated natural esate up for ras, fl stop. Prospects look bghtr, however ithe pritiple ‘imposes some constraint mths procs, to relet the notion tht the chi orl sha, “Ths sort of argument can te traced as far back as, Ger ‘Winstanley (1649) and te Levellers’ movement. It bas bee elaborated bya umber of ninetceth century socal reformers: by William Cae (1827, Stu Read (1829) and Poutett Serope (1833) sn Faglan,* {Charles Fourier (1836: 490-92) ad his disciple Hean-Baptste Gein (STI: 21213) in France, According Yo Fourier, for example, the violation ofeach person's natura ight f0 hunt, eh, pick fut an et hee/his cae graze on the commons implies that “culation: owes Subsistence to everyone unable to met her/his needs, Robert Novick (1974: 178-9) explety refers 9 Fouter's argument and reparanes ‘more precisely in support of the sovalled“Lockean prow the Stipalation thatthe private aperopviation of atural resources should leave ‘enough and 85 good" for others (Locke, 1690" section 25). ‘According © Nozit's pancpe, the anginal appropriation of natural objet canbe leptimate ony noone is made worse off na esl of mo Toager being able to use Hence anyone whowe well fs lower than ‘would have been had nothing Been privately appropiate sented to 3 ompensation that beings up her/his level of wellare Io whatever i ‘would Rave ec in hat state of ature Taking these premises for prante, does flow that bse income is jostined” Fist it must be noted’ that the counterfactual exercise involved inthis approach of particule tricky nature For ify 10 Figure out whether my fate woud have Been Herter nthe tat fate, Tuiely run ato the quesion of hom many people mist be ssn in that stat, to share the natural resources with me Ht Lake population size to be what ts now, Lariarly abstract from the ~ no doubt massive demographic impact of eats of pete landowneship If instead I ty to guess what the population would have heen had the sae ‘of nature persisted atl aow, ould mot easly domi the sugeesion that {would not have exited, and hence woul rly be m8 poston to

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