Basic Income and the Left: The Political and Economic Problems
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, 25 April 2017 22:45
- Written by editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(((( T h e B u l l e t ))))~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Socialist Project e-bulletin .... No. 1402 .... April 26, 2017
____________________________________________________
Basic Income and the Left:
The Political and Economic Problems
David Bush
Should the Left and labour support a demand for a Basic Income (BI)? This simple question has provoked a fervent and confusing debate. The discussion over BI touches on real political and economic anxieties. The attack on the social welfare state, the depreciating power of organized labour and an economy producing increasingly low-wage precarious jobs have led many to search for alternative mechanisms and policies to address these problems. It is no wonder that BI with its promise of streamlined access to minimal economic security has attracted many adherents on the Left.
Discussing BI with clarity is made difficult because of the sweeping scope and abstractness of the issue. Debates over BI... necessarily involve an analysis of capitalism, the state, the nature of automation and theories of social change.
Another added difficulty in debating BI is that the policy has many different variants. Proponents of BI have been able to deflect criticism by creating a division between good BI and bad BI. Instead of a concrete debate about the economic and political aspects of BI, it is discussed as an ideal separated from the messy business of material reality. The strategy of those advocating BI centres on crafting policies in a vacuum and hoping governments enact them.
This romantic idealism has stymied serious analysis of the policy from the Left. Taking a step back and looking at the economic and political logic of BI, I hope to show that however well-meaning the policy is, it is economically flawed and a politically dangerous demand for the Left to adopt.
