Universal Basic Income: Founding Father And Philosopher Thomas Paine

The first major proposal for a Universal Basic Income came from founding father and philosopher Thomas Paine who wrote “Agrarian Justice” where he raises the idea that we did not create the world that we live in, we merely reap the benefits. About the owners of the land he said, “Every proprietor owes to the community a ground rent for the land which he holds.” This means that everyone who owns and benefits from the land owes it to the community to give back. In modern times this translates to those who have the wealth and capital should also give to the community which can be done in a variety of ways including a UBI. Paine’s original idea including paying the elderly a minimum income much like modern social security and giving everyone

It also further stimulates the economy increasing fluidity and day to day spending. A socialist argument would be that a UBI redistributes the wealth of the richest into the hands of everyone, elevating the working class. The feminist argument states that a basic income redistributes the unequal balance of money from men to women, further empowering them, which helps fight gender inequality. The UBI gives women financial independence that before was kept from them by the patriarchy. A humanist, or human rights standpoint on the Universal Basic Income would be that poverty is one of the truest tragedies of our society because it isn’t a natural occurrence but rather a man made one. Poverty is totally curable in the 21st century with the amount of production in the world, so not trying to solve it would be morally wrong. While there are many different argument in favor of a basic income from man different points of view, there are also several counter arguments to it. The most prevalent question raised in opposition of a UBI is how do we pay for

However the amount the federal tax revenue would need to be increased by isn’t as much as we think it is. In the counter argument you would assume that $6.1 billion added on top of the $3.9 billion is the total amount we would need to have in revenue. The truth is that two thirds of the federal budget are already mandatory spending on existing social services like Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. These systems would be replaced under the UBI and can therefore be subtracted from the total amount needed. Of the $3.9 billion dollar budget $2.54 billion is the mandatory money that can be subtracted, leaving us with $1.36 trillion spent of discretionary spending like the military, education, infrastructure, and NASA. Add that to the $6.14 trillion for basic income and we have $7.5 trillion dollars instead of $10 trillion as it looked before. A return to Kennedy era tax rates from roughly 30% now to 52% as it was then, as well as the closing of loopholes that allow businesses to operate in the United States would close the gap between the budget required and the tax income received. Raising taxes historically in the United States has not hurt the economy, but rather helped it. President Kennedy saw economic growth twice that of our current rate even with his high taxes. The implementation of a Universal Basic Income would also flood the market with liquidity, meaning that daily