Establishment Proposes: “Have the Government Give Every Adult a Basic Income” (Insanity alert)

With government intervention now becoming the only viable solution being touted for everything from individual health care and the economy to our personal safety and how we educate our children, it would only make sense that officials in Washington also figure out a way to use their power of confiscation and redistribution to equalize the income playing field.

It’s no secret that 48 million Americans require nutritional assistance just to put food on the table, or that over 100 million of us are living in or at the very edge of poverty, or that nearly one in three of us is currently without any meaningful labor.

This is a major problem, and if we stay on our current trajectory those numbers are going to continue to rise. The American people are broke, and so are the businesses that employ them, which means that we’ll continue to shed jobs, decrease wages and further impoverish an already dwindling middle class.

Enter the idea of a Universal Basic Income, to be distributed by the Federal government on a monthly basis to every adult in America.

I am going to risk it all and go way, way out on a limb here and play Devil’s advocate with this one. I admit I am kind of thinking out loud and am prepared to have my arguments decimated here... but I think it might be possible to implement this in some fashion without violating conservative principles. (Before flaming, hear me out.)

Countries like Kuwait have done this with reasonable success from my understanding by distributing their profits from their abundant supply of oil to their citizens. Now don’t jump to conclusions. I do not support the government taking over our oil production or robbing owners of their rights. I am just giving an example.

There are three sources of wealth generation: work, exploitation of natural resources, and innovation.

It is in this third area I think it might be possible to implement a conservative form of government that actually makes a profit for its citizens. The Constitution specifies Congressional authority to grant intellectual property rights...

“To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.”

Natural law does not dictate the ownership of inventions per se. These are negotiated agreements by our federal government in ways to grant inventors (innovators who create wealth) a limited monopoly in order to be compensated for their efforts and ingenuity. Treaties also support these rights.

So the federal government does play a role in providing a means for wealth generation in this arena. It is feasible to share this wealth with citizens since citizens are voluntarily relinquishing their rights (temporarily) to use these innovations without paying for them.

Okay. I am done playing Devil’s advocate. If anyone wants to find a flaw in my logic here I would like to know what it is.

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