Karl Marx updated: To each according to his share

Karl Marx is famous for saying this:

From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

Karl Marx lived in a poor world. But the world has become very wealthy.

"We live in a world of abundance and wealth."
(From Unconditional Basic Income: 1,000 Euros a month for everyone!)

If Marx had lived in today's world, his slogan might be this:

From each according to his ability, to each according to his share of the country.

Since every citizen has one equal share of the country, this can be more specific:

Tax progressively according to income level, and distribute citizen dividend equally.

A citizen dividend in a world of abundance and wealth is way higher than a "livable wage", and is way more than a person's need.

Here are a few examples of the "abundance and wealth" in this world:

Falkland Islands: US$500,000 citizen dividend for each resident annually.

Kuwait: $2.3 million citizen dividend each, over a lifetime of 80 years.

Equatorial Guinea: US$6,000 citizen dividend each.

Norway: At least US$5,000 citizen dividend each, and going up each year.

Singapore: $800,000 citizen dividend for each citizen, over a lifetime of 80 years.

Unconditional Basic Income: A wow answer to class struggle.

Karl Marx wrote a lot about the struggle between the poor and the rich. He considered that as an eternal class struggle, leading to a classless society eventually. The class struggle prediction is true in modern times.

"Marx not only diagnosed capitalism’s flaws but also the outcome of those flaws. If policymakers don’t discover new methods of ensuring fair economic opportunity, the workers of the world may just unite. Marx may yet have his revenge."

"From the floor of the U.S. Congress to the streets of Athens to the assembly lines of southern China, political and economic events are being shaped by escalating tensions between capital and labor to a degree unseen since the communist revolutions of the 20th century."

“What class conflict is producing today are calls to fix systems so they become more viable and sustainable for the long run by redistributing the wealth created.” 

Read more: http://business.time.com/2013/03/25/marxs-revenge-how-class-struggle-is-shaping-the-world/#ixzz2XacA4aNN

The solution proposed by Marx was in the manifesto of the communist party. Marx's solution of a country nationalizing all capital is no longer appealing. It had been tried and it failed.

Surprisingly, the movement for an unconditional basic income / citizen income can be seen as another solution for the class struggle. It is a very surprising answer to the class struggle. Instead of a class gaining the upper hand over another class, this solution raises the lower class into the upper class sufficiently so that mass class struggle is no longer necessary. It will reduce inequality and it will eliminate the condition where workers "have nothing to lose but their chains."

The have-nots will become livable-haves while the haves continue as rich-haves. Will this be the type of stable "classless society" for the future?

The Haves versus the Have-Nots

The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.

Karl Marx. Manifesto of the Communist Party

In the eternal struggle between haves and have-nots,
a citizen-ownership democracy makes everyone a "haves".

Each person is a citizen owner of his/her country and has a right to an equal share of the country's common wealth.

"By proletariat, the class of modern wage labourers who, having no means of production of their own, are reduced to selling their labour power in order to live."

In a citizen-ownership democracy, no one belongs to the proletariat.

Citizen-Ownership Democracy. Karl Marx would have been happy with this.

Unconditional Basic Income: Karl Marx would have been happy with this.

1. The theory of Communism may be summed up in one sentence: Abolish all private property. 

2. From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

Karl Marx

The quotes above have two fundamental ideas: the acquisition of centralized property and the distribution of value to individuals.

In simplified terms, history has shown that Karl Marx did not foresee how the value of centralized properties would be distributed. Officials, whether communist or democratic, are still individuals. Officials controlling centralized properties behave like private owners if they are not properly regulated. 

An unconditional basic income, or a citizen-ownership dividend, completes the work for Karl Marx. Who is able to determine the needs of each citizen? The practical answer is nobody and no system. The practical distribution method is the unconditional approach where everyone gets an equal share of the values from "state" properties. In effect, this forms the "classless society" that Karl Marx expects to occur. The laws for a basic income / citizen dividend form the required regulations on how officials are to do the acquisition and distribution. The laws should be constitutional laws that need a referendum to change. For example, in Alaska, the law requires a certain percentage of oil revenue to go into the Alaska Permanent Fund, and mandates the distribution of investment returns from the fund to Alaskans.

Abolishing all private properties is not the correct method. In fact, a state can unlock the value of state properties by selling to private owners. Ideally, it should be a "short" lease so that state properties are not lost forever leading to a future where the state has zero property. A well controlled disposal of state properties can lead to the accumulation of much revenue to support a basic income or citizen dividend. This is seen in the case of Alaska and also of Mongolia.

We can visualize income from two sources: citizen-ownership and individual. Citizen-ownership income from state properties provides an at least livable basic income for a "classless society" since such income is distributed equally to everyone. Income from individual effort can enhance individual wealth. A "classless society" can exists harmoniously with individual effort and private property.

What we see in current democracies is that the state has confiscated all the citizen-ownership dividend. Individuals are forced to rely on only their individual income, resulting in poverty for large segments of the population.

John Kennedy, Karl Marx and Citizen-Ownership Democracy

John Kennedy

Inaugural address of John F. Kennedy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country."


Karl Marx

From each according to his ability, to each according to his need (or needs)

While John Kennedy is concerned with what you can give to the country, Karl Marx is equally concerned with what the country can give to you.

Karl Marx must have assumed a country with very limited wealth, and thus the requirement to distribute to citizens based on needs. He could be right for certain countries during his time.

Citizen-ownership Democracy

Ask what your country can pay you, because you are the owner of your country.

The emphasis in a citizen-ownership democracy is on what the country should give to you. 

It is not that contributing to the country is unimportant. It is just that there are already many ways that a country reminds you of that.

While Karl Marx uses a very subjective yardstick of personal needs, a citizen-ownership democracy uses a very objective yardstick of common wealth with equal division among citizens.

In modern times, and in at least a few countries, equal distribution of a country's dividend from common wealth is enough, or even more than enough, to meet every citizen's basic needs, High level luxurious wants such as first class plane tickets and golden toilet bowls can be and should be individually earned, separate from distribution of citizen-ownership dividends.