UBI: A Bad Idea For The Welfare State

The author argued that the unconditional universal basic income (UUBI) was a very well-meaning idea but he pointed to a number of problems that were not taken into account by its proponents.

First, such a reform would be unsustainably expensive and would thereby jeopardize the state’s ability to maintain quality in public services such as healthcare, education and care of the elderly.

A second issue for the UUBI concerns overall political legitimacy. A third problem concerns the need for work.

But the basic error with the idea of ​​unconditional basic income was its unconditionality. If people were going to continue to pay taxes for the welfare of others, several conditions must be met. One of them was the principle of reciprocity: people contribute productively to the common good as far as they can. The main body of the welfare state was never built on altruism but on reciprocity. Breaking with this principle was most likely to lead to the dismantling of the type of broad-based social solidarity that built that welfare state.

• Primary Source

ESO: Key Source: Universal Basic Income http://www.europeansources.info/record/universal-basic-income/

ESO: Find further information on this topic http://www.europeansources.info/advSearchLink?keyword=basic%20income%20&searchTerm

Social Europe, 11.12.17: Universal Basic Income: Definitions And Details https://www.socialeurope.eu/universal-basic-income-definitions-details

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