There are numerous different arguments for the adoption of a basic income. To eradicate poverty, counteract the inevitability of job automation or to allow people the freedom to choose. However, Mark Walker argues that we hear so much about what he terms “leftist” reasons and not so much about the justifications for a basic income for those who sit on the right of the political spectrum. In this blog post, Walker, an Associate Professor of Philosophy at New Mexico State University, outlines why he believes capitalism itself demands a basic income.
Walker sets out his vision of the future of the United States in which people are charged a surcharge for all goods and services that they use much like companies such as Amazon or Ebay do. This extra payment will go into one pot and shared amongst shareholders. Now this sounds like another way of shifting money to a few lucky shareholders however Walker then goes on to suggest those shareholders are the public themselves; “Perhaps the answer is obvious; the shareholders are “we the people”. This vision of public ownership using capitalist principles would allow the public to receive a dividend in the form of a basic income.
Later in the article Walker argues that the market as it is “benefits the rich and hurts the middle class and the poor. Or put the other way around, the poor and the middle class would be better off if we ran public assets on good capitalistic principles”. It is this adoption of a capitalist outlook in public life that Walker believes will lead to the inevitable outcome of a basic income for all.
Mark Walker is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at New Mexico State University, as well as a member of the board of directors of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies and the editorial board of the Journal of Evolution and Technology. His latest book is Free Money For All: A Basic Income Guarantee Solution for the Twenty-First Century (2015, Palgrave)
Mark Walker, “Capitalism Mandates a Basic Income Guarantee”, April 6th 2016
