A PROVOCATIVE BUT POSSIBLE PROPOSAL

What is the first object of society? It is to maintain the inviolable rights of man. What is the first of these rights? The right to exist. The first social law is thus that which guarantees to all society's members the means of existence; all others are subordinated to it.

Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794), 1792

The Basic Income proposal has been gathering strength in recent years, to an extent that may seem surprising. Moreover, it does not often happen that a social proposal of any magnitude – and this is one such – should bring together such an array of supporters of different political leanings, philosophies and countries. It is not uncommon to find champions of Basic Income among people who would never have even flirted with the idea of thoroughgoing change in the societies in which they live, as well as among feminist activists or members of social movements that are clearly opposed to the status quo. In university circles, too, we find liberals (in the academic rather than the political sense), republicans although speaking of 'republicans' and 'liberals' in general terms is not very helpful – ecologists and feminists once again, along with many others who are interested in, or in favour of, the Basic Income proposal. Finally, there are supporters in very different countries ranging from the United States to Chile, the Kingdom of Spain to Sweden, from Turkey to Australia and South Africa. I shall not start by speculating about whether this diversity represents a virtue of Basic Income, whether it contributes to the confusion about it, or whether it is simply inevitable. We can leave the matter for the moment. I shall have enough space in this book to state what my position is and, I hope, to defend it clearly and precisely.

1.1 THE DEFINITION

What exactly is Basic Income? Before going into detail about the many aspects of the proposal, I should like to offer an unambiguous account of what it is:

Basic Income is an income paid by the state to each full member or accredited resident of a society, regardless of whether he or she wishes to engage in paid employment, or is rich or poor or, in other words, independently of any other sources of income that person might have, and irrespective of cohabitation arrangements in the domestic sphere.

Although it is somewhat long, this is the definition I prefer because it is clear (and also provocative). The Basic Income Earth Network definition is as follows:

A basic income is an income unconditionally granted to all on an individual basis, without means test or work requirement. It is a form of minimum income guarantee that differs from those that now exist in various European countries in three important ways:

• it is being paid to individuals rather than households

• it is paid irrespective of any income from other sources

• it is paid without requiring the performance of any work or the willingness to accept a job if offered.

This is also rather a long definition but I shall proceed with the earlier one, which I confess I favour, because it enables me to clarify some points in greater detail.

'An income paid by the state'. The word 'state' can cover a juridical-political entity that is larger than existing nation-states, such as the European Union, or it might refer to juridical-political spheres that are smaller than the nation-state, for example autonomously governed territories. Hence, Basic Income is paid by one or more institutions in the public sphere.

'To each full member or resident of a society'. In the different models for financing Basic Income there are variations in the amount paid, according to age, or whether minors are included in the policy or not, and so on. However, in all cases, this is a sum of money that citizens receive as individuals (and not by family groups, for example), and universally (not dependent on, say, predetermined thresholds of poverty).

'Regardless of whether he or she wishes to engage in paid employment'. For the present, it is sufficient to note that 'work' is all too often understood as 'paid employment' or 'job'. There are good reasons for thinking that the following typology is more appropriate: (1) paid work in the labour market, (2) domestic work, and (3) voluntary work. These distinctions are important, as I shall explain in Chapter 4.

'Whether he or she ... is rich or poor or, in other words, independently of any other sources of income that person might have'. Unlike means-tested subsidies that depend on defined levels of poverty or types of situation, Basic Income is received by rich and poor alike. If it is conceived as a right of citizenship (as the definition suggests), that excludes any additional condition. Like the right of universal suffrage, the Basic Income proposal does not impose any conditions beyond citizenship (or accredited residence).

'Irrespective of cohabitation arrangements in the domestic sphere'. Basic Income does not favour or penalise any particular form of cohabitation. It makes no difference whether a heterosexual couple, people from different generations, a group of friends or a homosexual couple live under the same roof. These are all ways of living together that are completely independent of the right to receive a Basic Income.

Basic Income, then, is formally secular, unconditional and universal. It would be received by each and every member of the society irrespective of gender, level of income, religion and sexual orientation. In this distinctive feature of not being conditional upon any requisite other than citizenship or accredited residence, Basic Income is incontrovertibly very different from other proposals, whether they have been applied in practice for years or whether they have never gone beyond the state of 'theory'. Let us look more closely now at this distinctiveness.

1.2 WHAT BASIC INCOME IS NOT

In making clear what Basic Income is not, it is important to note at this introductory stage some other, supposedly similar measures with which Basic Income should not be confused. This does not mean making any kind of comparative evaluation at this point because I shall do this in Chapter 6. For the moment, I think it is only necessary to offer a very brief account of measures, whether still on the drawing board or already put into practice, which need to be distinguished from Basic Income even though some of them would appear at first sight to be quite similar.

Basic Income is not participation income, a proposal that was made by Anthony Atkinson (1993, 1996) and others. This is the payment of a sum of money to all citizens who are able to work and who are engaged in some kind of activity that is...