Opinion: Independence, Propertylessness, and Basic Income | Basic Income News

Opinion: Independence, Propertylessness, and Basic Income | Basic Income News - a new book by Karl Widerquist.
"As I see it, from the hanging gardens of Babylon to the modern sweatshop, one social problem occurs over and over again in different ways: advantaged people force disadvantaged people to serve them. Can this be justified?"

"Effective Control Self-Ownership is a theory of freedom that makes the freedom from directly or indirectly forced service central to an individual’s standing as a free person. The book defines, derives, and defends this theory of freedom in the context of the contemporary literature on freedom and justice. It examines the implications of the theory and argues that a basic income guarantee is an important tool to maintain personal independence in a modern society."

The disadvantaged people are "propertyless". They are the poor who have to eke out a living working under lousy conditions. The "propertyful" works the "propertyless".

This book is very relevant to citizen-ownership democracy and citizen income. As proclaimed by past and present democratic leaders and even communist leaders, citizens are the owners of their countries. Every citizen, rich or poor, owns an equal share of the country's wealth. In theory, there are no "propertyless" citizens. In reality, the state keeps all the wealth from their common properties, forcing poor citizens into "propertylessness".

Returning citizen income to citizens is justice, not welfare.

If a citizen is entitled to $9,000 of citizen income, and the state gives him only $100, that is not $100 of welfare. That is (mis)appropriation of $8,900 from the citizen by the state.