PHIL 10631 Assignment: Introduction to Philosophy of Mind

A basic income is a regular income received after a certain period as result of work done or service provided during this period. The person who receives this income is entitled to it since they have worked to earn that money.  Unconditional income does not rely on any condition to be fulfilled like in the case of basic income where one has to work for them to receive the payment. The recipients do not have to fulfill any requirements to get it, it is given to all the people as their right. It is also known as universal basic income. The issue of unconditional basic has its roots back in the 19^th century, where the idea that no one at all should live in demeaning conditions of poverty, a consolation of some kind of basic income to protect the well-being of the people and take some measures on their social security.

Liberals such as Thomas Paine and Mill fought for unconditional income as way of promoting freedom given the mass unemployment given the mass unemployment that was there at that time and the people were suffering as a result of this. During the 19^th century until later in the 1960s the argument about basic salary was minimal, later in 1970s some countries like the US joined by Canada did numerous tests on negative income taxation which was considered as a system affecting the well-being of people, this experiment revealed that with UBI in place most people life condition was improved though minimal. Later in 1980s the heated argument took another turn in Europe and spread to other countries.  Some countries have enacted broader benefit systems such as Bolsa Familia Brazil (White, 1997).

In considering whether introduction of unconditional basic income is morally justified or not, will take a look at various aspects such as its effect in modern society, the possibility of implementing and enforcing it, the challenges likely to come up, its advantages visa a vis its disadvantages, whether it is practicable or not. Depending on the outcome of these factors then we can easily conclude whether is it is morally justified or not.

In evaluating the moral issues around unconditional income, it is important to identify the moral considerations that are in favor of UBI and those that are against then weigh the outcome of both. The debates surrounding the welfare of the people in terms of poverty caused by the economic inequality are relevant morally but to what extent, the main objective of moral justification is focused on freedom. UBI came up with a proposal on free society which subsequently would promote justice to all members of the society and this is guaranteed.

Advantages of UBI

It reduces the level of poverty in the society as everyone is entitled to a basic income unconditionally. It will also work more proficiently in managing and administration of welfare of the people as concerns about their well-being will be addressed.  UBI also will do away with the stigma of unemployment, it will also reduce economic inequality in the society and promote justice to all.

Despite the numerous advantages of UBI it remains uncertain whether it is affordable and the difficulty around implementing it. It would affect the whole system of the country from the tax system that will have to be adjusted, the private entities and public entities ownership and who will work. To some extent UBI is morally justified but it comes along with a lot of challenges that could plunge the country into crisis because the number of workers are likely to reduce the moment UBI is introduced and this would mean drastic decline in level of production consequently leading to low economic growth. The question of where the tax will come from to commence this huge programme given the population of the whole country, then for this to work there will have to be annual data collection of number of the people and this all process literally will be expensive for modern governments to afford given that they also have to budget for other essential elements such as security, education and health.

The effect UBI would have on long term economic factors would be negative and as a result of possibility of many not working there is likelihood of rise in inflation. At the end of the day will be looking at which one is more important for the sake of the all society having both view in mind. It is the relevant need for reduction of inequality but this would on the other hand bring about inflation. The need for economic growth would be slowed down by UBI. There are welfare systems that relate to basic income but have special requirements owing to the fact that they are not general and most of the time are known as certain minimum system of income and only poor families get access to it.

Johannes Ludovicus proposed that all municipal governments should ensure that a subsistence minimum is secured for all its residence and this not connected to justice but instead it provides a more proficient duty to help the needy. Though he emphasizes that this should only be accorded to those who really need help and not those who are not willing to even work. In order to morally justify the need for UBI will view the following aspects and assess the need of UBI visa a Vis its effects on the society.

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The viewpoints in the basic income arguments.

1. Transparency and organizational effectiveness

This basically looks for ways of making UBI much simpler and affordable compared to what many states use as at now. There are states who have separate welfare programs such child support, pensions, disability, and housing support among others. This particular perspective proposes consolidation of all these separate welfare programs to come up with one programme that covers all of them as this will reduce the paper work involved in the separate programs.

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