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Karl Widerquist, Independence, Propertylessness, and Basic Income: A theory of freedom as the power to say no

by Citizens' Income Trust | Nov 8, 2013 | Opinion

Karl Widerquist, Independence, Propertylessness, and Basic Income: A theory of freedom as the power to say no, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, 1 137 27472 4, hbk, xiv + 241 pp, £62.50

The message of this book is simple: We are not free; we ought to be; and a Citizen’s Income (called here a ‘Basic Income Guarantee’) is an important means to that end.

The ‘propertylessness’ in the title represents the diagnosis: that is, that someone who is without sufficient property to meet his or her basic needs is reliant on property owners for the meeting of those needs (through an employment contract, state benefits, or some other mechanism) and is therefore not free. Starting from a definition of freedom as non-interference, Widerquist develops a theory of ‘status freedom’: ‘the effort to identify the difference between a free person and an unfree person’, and also a refined definition of freedom as ‘effective control self-ownership … freedom as the power to say no’ (p.15). Co-operation with others should always be voluntary, which means that it should be from a position of genuine independence: and it is this ‘independentarianism’ that requires an individuals’ right to property and therefore to a Citizen’s Income.

In this book Widerquist draws out the implications of freedom as effective control self-ownership, and particularly its relationship to the individual’s co-operation with other individuals, to the labour market, to our ability willingly to sign away our freedoms, and to such theoretical positions as Philippe Van Parijs’s ‘real freedom’ (a positive freedom to do as one wishes consistent with others’ freedoms) and Stuart White’s ‘justice as fair reciprocity’.

Alongside this somewhat abstract discussion of concepts, Widerquist studies today’s social and economic context, and concludes that

in a modern, industrial economy [effective control self-ownership] is best secured by an unconditional basic income guarantee large enough to secure housing, food, clothing, and basic transportation, plus enough more that individuals do not display signs of economic distress (p.70)

and also that a Citizen’s Income is compensation for our inability to provide everyone with sufficient status independence (p.71).

There is no attempt to escape the logic of capitalism. Trade is a perfectly just mechanism if undertaken by independent individuals and by mutual agreement; and Widerquist shows how a moral obligation to participate can be satisfied better by voluntary participation than by mandatory participation:

Even if people have an obligation to contribute to a just system of social cooperation, giving individuals the power to say no to working conditions they find unacceptable might be a better method to create a just system of social cooperation than giving a democratic majority the powers both to determine the conditions of fair cooperation and to enforce participation. (p.117)

For Widerquist, the individual’s freely-chosen consent to participate is paramount: a freely chosen consent that can only be guaranteed by the existence of an exit option: that is, by the ability not to participate.

This book is many things: an exercise in political economy; a textbook on philosophy and social ethics (particularly in chapter 9 on ‘duty’); and a sustained argument for a Citizen’s Income: and it is an excellent example of all of them.

However, there remains a problem with terminology. For a UK audience, the language of ‘guarantee’ is confusing. A ‘guarantee’ of an income is a promise that someone’s income will reach a particular level, and this can be achieved by a means-tested benefit as well as by a universal one. The previous Labour Government’s Minimum Income Guarantee was means-tested, and was as far from a universal benefit as it is possible to get. It is unconditionality, individuality and universality that matter, and Widerquist might have stressed these important characteristics of a Citizen’s Income more than he has.

But having said that, this is an important contribution to the literature on universal benefits, and therefore to the debate that might one day lead to their extension to working age adults.

Podcast on Basic Income #4 (13/11/04)

by BINews | Nov 4, 2013 | Opinion

Respective Links:
0:33 United States – Dissident Voice
https://binews.org/2013/10/kevin-zeese-margaret-flowers-%e2%80%9ctime-for-an-economy-of-by-and-for-the-people%e2%80%9d/

1:03 United States – David Graeber
https://binews.org/2013/10/arthur-de-grave-benjamin-tincq-%e2%80%9ccan-debt-catalyse-the-next-global-rebellion-an-interview-with-david-graeber/

1:32 Switzerland – French-speaking Swiss radio network
https://binews.org/2013/10/audio-van-parijs-on-the-swiss-radio/

2:05 Switzerland – Enno Schmidt
https://binews.org/2013/10/video-the-swiss-activist-who-collected-100000-signatures-to-provide-every-adult-citizen-with-2800month/

2:27 European citizens’ initiative petition
https://binews.org/2013/10/european-union-citizens%e2%80%99-initiative-for-basic-income-can-be-signed-online/

3:00 Uganda – Christopher Blattman
https://binews.org/2013/11/georgette-jasen-research-finds-outright-grants-of-cash-are-surprisingly-effective-form-of-aid-to-the-poor/

3:31 Croatia, European Union, Slovenia
https://binews.org/2013/11/eu-slovenia-has-become-the-second-country-to-reach-the-target/

4:00 United Kingdom – CIT
https://binews.org/2013/11/citizen%e2%80%99s-income-trust-citizen%e2%80%99s-income-news-letter/

4:18 Cyprus – Malcolm Torry
https://binews.org/2013/11/opinion-means-testing-in-cyprus/

You can reach us via Twitter: https://twitter.com/BINews

OPINION: Means-testing in Cyprus

by Citizens' Income Trust | Nov 4, 2013 | Opinion

The President of Cyprus has announced the establishment of a ‘Guaranteed Minimum Income’. ‘Beneficiaries will be all of our fellow citizens who have an income below that which can assure them a dignified living.’ ⁴ That is, it will be a means-tested benefit. It will also be work-tested, which of course it will have to be, because means-tested benefits are withdrawn as earned income rises and so fail to provide the employment and enterprise incentives that an economy and a labour market need if they are to recover.

The benefit will do what it says: it will guarantee to all citizens a minimum income; but because it will go to some and not to others, it will not provide the social cohesion that Cyprus needs, and it will come with a substantial administrative price tag attached.

The President says that ‘the troika had accepted the government’s proposal “for a modern conceptualization on the policy of social welfare and prosperity”’. ⁴ The troika (the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund) will have accepted the scheme because it matches the means-tested systems that other countries involved operate, and particularly those operating in the USA and the UK.

There are two lessons to be drawn here. One is that means-testing is an intuitive default position even though it is inefficient, costly, socially divisive, and entirely unnecessary in the context of a progressive income tax system. This default position means that it will not be easy for a social security system based on universal benefits to rise to the top of governments’ policy agendas, even though universal benefits are efficient, are cheap to administer, incentivize employment, self-employment and enterprise generally, are financially feasible, and are conducive to social cohesion.

The second lesson is that the word ‘guarantee’ is so ambiguous that advocates of universal benefits should stop using it. ‘Basic Income Guarantee’ is generally intended to mean the guarantee of a universal benefit, a concept that is at the opposite end of the spectrum from the means-tested ‘guaranteed minimum income’ proposed in Cyprus. The former means a Citizen’s Income; the latter a minimum net income guaranteed to a household by a means-tested benefits system. The previous Labour Government’s ‘Minimum Income Guarantee’ for pensioners was of the latter variety, and so particularly in the UK context we should be especially careful to reserve ‘guarantee’ language for a minimum net income to be reached by means of means-tested benefits, and never to use the word in the context of a discussion of universal benefits.

We would be content to forgive the President of Cyprus his use of the word ‘guarantee’ if he had meant by it a Citizen’s Income. But he did not.

¹ www.labour.org.uk/one-nation-social-security-reform-miliband-speech#
²www.schoolfoodplan.com/plan/
³Kate Bell, ‘Investing in childhood’, Fabian Review, vol. 125, no.2, Summer 2013, p.19.
⁴ https://cyprus-mail.com/2013/07/26/president-announces-guaranteed-minimum-income-for-all-citizens/

Podcast on Basic Income #3 (13/10/28)

by BINews | Oct 28, 2013 | Opinion

Respective Links:
Links:
0:34 Stumbling and Mumbling “Why not a basic income?”
https://binews.org/2013/10/stumbling-and-mumbling-why-not-a-basic-income/

0:54 United Kingdom – Tom Streithorst
https://binews.org/2013/10/tom-streithorst-%e2%80%9cbasic-income-and-the-atavistic-appeal-of-austerity%e2%80%9d/

1:22 Denmark – Philippe Van Parijs
https://binews.org/2013/10/copenhagen-denmark-%e2%80%9clectures-with-philippe-van-parijs%e2%80%9d-nov-1-2-2013/

2:20 The United States – USA Today
https://binews.org/2013/10/duncan-black-minimum-income-proposal-worth-considering/

2:38 The United States – Matt Bruenig
https://binews.org/2013/10/matt-bruenig-how-a-universal-basic-income-would-affect-poverty/

3:12 Canada – BIEN congress
https://binews.org/2013/10/bien-congress-2014-now-available-on-facebook-and-twitter/

3:59 Belgium – De Morgen
https://binews.org/2013/10/basic-income-makes-the-headlines-in-belgium/

5:20 Europe – Guy Standing
https://binews.org/2013/10/guy-standing-to-give-several-presentations-on-basic-income-in-italy-norway-finland-and-the-united-kingdom-2-13-november-2013/

5:43 Switzerland – Daniel Haeni
https://binews.org/2013/10/interview-daniel-haeni-on-the-swizz-initiative/

You can reach us via Twitter: https://twitter.com/BINews

Interview: Daniel Häni on the Swiss Initiative

by Yannick Vanderborght | Oct 24, 2013 | Opinion

Daniel Häni at the event

Dorothee Schulte-Basta: Daniel, today a lot of people believe that the popular initiative for Basic Income here in Switzerland could also give an impulse to others. Is it in your opinion an impulse for Europe, or is it a global impulse?

Daniel Häni: Switzerland has a special position. It is really easier to promote the idea of Basic Income here than elsewhere because, on the one hand, we have a direct democracy and, on the other hand, we have no financial poverty. We can talk more freely about Basic Income since basic income is really an idea, a cultural impulse. This is evident from the debates in our neighboring country, Germany, where it is a debate about social policy. But in Switzerland the chances are greater because here the issue is discussed on a cultural level. As for the impulse, we think that it concerns not only Switzerland. We are doing this not only for Switzerland.

Dorothee: Are you doing it for Europe? For the world?

Daniel: I would not think so. You start with Europe, and then you quickly start thinking about America. America has strong links with Switzerland. This can be seen from the history of democracy.

Daniel Häni shovelling

Dorothee: Both countries have a common history of democracy, but the social situation in these countries is very different. For example, most people in the United States are not doing nearly as well financially as the people in Switzerland. And the social safety nets are quite different.

Daniel: Yes, but the United States is the biggest economy in the world. And America is built completely on the principles of freedom. The individual counts a lot. You can do there almost everything you want. The situation is similar in Switzerland. Switzerland was also built from the bottom up. However, it was unified into a direct democracy. In America, they went another way. But for the United States, basic income is an essential impulse, too. The most important thing one has to understand about basic income is that the idea behind it is the intent to free the economic potential of people. Or, to put it in other words, we need to change people’s understanding of the term “labour”. This is also a prerequisite to the future meritocratic society: the individual will associate themselves completely with what they do. America needs that. I can see that the door is open in America – through its history and mentality. And people in America want to do something. What people have to understand is that they need a base, an income so that one can work.

Picknick on money

Dorothee: What impulses can come to Switzerland from other countries? For example, can the pilot projects on basic income that have been launched in other countries, such as India, Brazil or Namibia, give an impulse to Switzerland? Or are there any other basic income-related activities that could give an impulse to Switzerland?

Daniel: I think all basic income pilots are interesting. They are a kind of impulse, too. Everything that happens somewhere could provide an impulse. But I would like to clarify this. It is not Switzerland that provides an impulse for Europe or America. It is not Switzerland, but rather it is the people– and they are everywhere in the world.

The most important thing is that we in Switzerland (maybe otherwise I would have been born somewhere else) are able to produce such a popular initiative. During a vote, the result is not so important. What matters is what happens on the way towards the vote, what kind of consciousness is created, and how people’s attitudes and thoughts change are also important. Here, in Switzerland, this is part of our culture. It is common practice here to make decisions together. We do not have boring discussions about pro and contra, or government and opposition.

Mountain of money

Dorothee: What are your wishes regarding basic income?

Daniel: I wish that all basic income advocates would know all the arguments against basic income, and would be able to cite them. I also wish that all basic income opponents would know all the arguments for basic income, delve deeper into the issue, and would be able to cite them. This is my wish. It’s the maximum we can achieve.

Dorothee: Thanks, Daniel.