Libertarian Basis of the Universal Basic Income Guarantee

Stephen Kent Gray
Aug 9, 2017 · 4 min read

Basic income has been promoted by people associated with political views that are generally opposed to the public provision of welfare services, such as libertarianism, economic liberalism, and anarcho-capitalism. These people support basic income as a strategy to reduce the amount of bureaucratic administration that is prevalent in many contemporary welfare systems, as well as acting as a form of compensation for fiat currency inflation. Notable libertarian-capitalist proponents of basic income include Milton Friedman (in the form of negative income tax), Gary Johnson (In the form of the fair tax “prebate”), and Charles Murray.

It is clear, however, that Friedrich Hayek did not advocate that any modern nation act to implement a minimum income. This was a concept that he attributed to his “Great Society,” which was his Utopian liberal society, in the classical sense. Hayek emphasized a minimum income in the far future, and stated clearly that no wealthy countries such as the United States should guarantee any income not available to all around the world, as it :”It is obvious that for a long time to come it will be wholly impossible to secure an adequate and uniform minimum standard for all human beings everywhere, or at least that the wealthier countries would not be content to secure for their citizens no higher standards than can be secured for all men. But to confine to the citizens of particular countries provisions for a minimum standard higher than that universally applied makes it a privilege and necessitates certain limitations on the free movement of men across frontiers… we must face the fact that we here encounter a limit to the universal application of those liberal principles of policy which the existing facts of the present world make unavoidable.”

Many of the people mentioned above have united in the Basic Income Earth Network, which recognizes numerous national advocacy groups. Here is a breakdown of all partisans of basic income, listed by region or country.

Geolibertarians seek to synthesize propertarian libertarianism and a geoist (or Georgist) philosophy of land as commonly and equally owned by all people, citing the classical distinction between unimproved land and private property. The rental value of land is produced by the labors of the community and, as such, rightly belongs to the community at large and not solely to the landholder. A land value tax (LVT) is levied as an annual fee for exclusive access to a section of earth, which is collected and redistributed to the community either through public goods, such as public security or a court system, or in the form of a basic guaranteed income called a citizen’s dividend. Geolibertarians view the LVT as a single tax to replace all other methods of taxation, which are deemed unjust violations of the non-aggression principle.

How to Pay for It

In the above links, you see these options:

  • Negative Income Tax
  • FairTax
  • Land Value Tax

American Politics

According to the above, the FairTax route is the only one with any backing towards getting an universal basic income guarantee.

Stephen Kent Gray

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I'm an Individualist Libertarian otaku who is pansexual! My avatar is Tiara from the Fairy Fencer series. Profile intro set to be updated soon eventually!

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