"Chancellor Merkel used her answer to make a point against the unconditional basic income that some in Germany have called for. Everyone had to try and live off their work, she said, pointing out that generally, there was a lot of flexibility on today’s job market." From Basic Income News.
This is a common argument used by people against the idea of a basic income. People must work to earn money. How can people get money for free? From the view of current democracies, this seems like a fair enough argument.
However, from the perspective of a citizen-ownership democracy, this argument is just not valid. Look at the owners of properties, or owners of shares in companies. Do these owners work to get their monies? No. And the country's laws will make sure that renters pay rent. Thus, it is not true that everyone lives off his or her work. The very rich can live off their ownership rights.
Citizens are being short-changed. They are owners of their country. Yet they get nothing from their ownership (except Alaskans). Just like the very rich who own properties and shares, citizens too own many properties and other forms of wealth in their country. Just like the very rich who receive monies from being owners, citizens too should receive monies from being owners of their country.
There is strong support from the Pope, who believes that justice "prompts us to give the other what is “his”, what is due to him by reason of his being or his acting." Money for acting (working) is only half the justice. The other half is money for being citizen owners.
What is happening in current democracies is that the rightful citizen-ownership income has been 100% taxed and (mis)appropriated into the state treasury. Citizens need to be educated that ownership means money. Citizen-ownership income is not a tax of the rich to pay to the poor. It is a share of the monies generated when a country's common wealth is transferred to private entities. When a country's oil is sold to private companies, that revenue should belong to all citizens. When a country's electromagnetic bandwidth is sold to telecommunication companies, that revenue should belong to all citizens. When a state sells land parcels to private entities, that revenue should belong to all citizens. Any sale/lease by the state of common properties to private entities, that money should belong to all citizens.
This is a common argument used by people against the idea of a basic income. People must work to earn money. How can people get money for free? From the view of current democracies, this seems like a fair enough argument.
However, from the perspective of a citizen-ownership democracy, this argument is just not valid. Look at the owners of properties, or owners of shares in companies. Do these owners work to get their monies? No. And the country's laws will make sure that renters pay rent. Thus, it is not true that everyone lives off his or her work. The very rich can live off their ownership rights.
Citizens are being short-changed. They are owners of their country. Yet they get nothing from their ownership (except Alaskans). Just like the very rich who own properties and shares, citizens too own many properties and other forms of wealth in their country. Just like the very rich who receive monies from being owners, citizens too should receive monies from being owners of their country.
There is strong support from the Pope, who believes that justice "prompts us to give the other what is “his”, what is due to him by reason of his being or his acting." Money for acting (working) is only half the justice. The other half is money for being citizen owners.
What is happening in current democracies is that the rightful citizen-ownership income has been 100% taxed and (mis)appropriated into the state treasury. Citizens need to be educated that ownership means money. Citizen-ownership income is not a tax of the rich to pay to the poor. It is a share of the monies generated when a country's common wealth is transferred to private entities. When a country's oil is sold to private companies, that revenue should belong to all citizens. When a country's electromagnetic bandwidth is sold to telecommunication companies, that revenue should belong to all citizens. When a state sells land parcels to private entities, that revenue should belong to all citizens. Any sale/lease by the state of common properties to private entities, that money should belong to all citizens.
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