Universal Basic Income (UBI)
The idea of Universal Basic Income (UBI) might seem novel, but in 1795 Thomas Paine suggested a “national fund” to pay every adult “rich and poor” £10 a year until the age of 50. He said, “Earth is common property, so everyone collectively dispossessed by the system of property ownership was entitled to compensation. Supporting that idea was Dr Neil Howard, a researcher at the University of Bath, who said, “UBI would provide a safety net and like Thomas Paine believed that a redistribution of privatized resources was inherently just. “The wealth of humanity belongs to all of us,” says Howard. “It has been appropriated by the few and that leads others to struggle unnecessarily. Paine’s essay “Agrarian Justice” proposed concrete reforms to abolish poverty. His Universal Social Insurance System (USIS) contained old-age pensions and disability support funded by a 10% inheritance tax. He summarized this view by stating that "Men did not make the earth, but it’s the value...