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Of Matt Zwolinski's Article 'Basic Income Guarantee'

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Basic income guarantee is provided as an alternative to the current system of social welfare. Within “Property Rights, Coercion, and the Welfare State: The Libertarian Case for a Basic Income for All,” Matt Zwolinski discusses basic income guarantee as the form of social assistance that is best aligned with a pragmatic libertarian approach to social welfare, particularly within the United States of America. Zwolinski further expands upon the economic benefits and the libertarian ideologies represented by a basic income guarantee within his article, “The Pragmatic Libertarian Case for a Basic Income Guarantee”. Contrasting Zwolinski’s approach, Robert Whaples criticizes the liberal and financial approach supporting a basic income guarantee in …show more content…

BIG is also introduced by Zwolinski to be an ideal option for a new libertarian welfare scheme as it adheres to the inherent libertarian desire to limit government intervention and control . Property rights are an important topic for libertarians, as they believe it is a way to protect “individuals from the use of force from others” . Based on a libertarian philosophy regarding possession and coercion, Zwolinski says that an individual’s right to acquire property derives from the belief that an individual is in control of their own body and owns the actions committed by their possessions, such as that of their body and then their labour, which leads to the ownership of their land . Introducing the coercive paradox of property rights, Zwolinski points out a problem affiliated with property rights, because if everything is owned than those who own nothing have nowhere to tread . The coercive nature of property rights derives from the free state of landless individuals that is threatened by landowners, as landless individuals are coerced into respecting and acknowledging the land owner’s property rights, even if it means limiting their own …show more content…

Zwolinski defines those who are not benefitted by property rights and deprived of access to resources due to another individual’s possession of those resources, as individuals who are truly economically disadvantaged within society and whom require compensation . Zwolinkski emphasizes that state agents cannot be used to determine who can be categorized as economically disadvantaged due to the biases state agents may present and the invasive nature of state conducted investigations . As a result, a collective safety net for all that provides a standard of sufficiency, BIG, is described to be the best way to ensure that all citizens benefit within a system of private property

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