Essay Example on Universal Basic Income

“All for one and one for all, united we stand divided we fall”  was one of Alexandre Duma's most notable quotes. Signifying we must work together in order for everyone to be happy in such a harsh world. So does this same concept go for universal basic income? Based on millions of failed attempts by communism, utilitarianism, and other philosophical theories I would argue no. Now let's look deeper though and ask what is universal basic income? According to one of the best finance education services Investopedia: 

Universal basic income (UBI) is a government program in which every adult citizen receives a set amount of money regularly. The goals of a basic income system are to alleviate poverty and replace other need-based social programs that potentially require greater bureaucratic involvement (Peters). 

The significance of this fact is it has good intentions but could it be beneficial for all? Hence getting into John Mill’s theory of Utilitarianism and the idea that we should do what’s right for the majority. Nonetheless, American adults should not receive a universal basic income.

First let's understand the meaning of Utilitarianism, as it’s the belief that activities are correct if they are beneficial to the majority. Philosophers like John Mill and Jemery Bentham made this philosophy their lives work, their theories are now studied by people around the world including me. However, when put into society the majority of their theories “tests” fail. Take Bishop Hill, Illinois, as it once was a small Utilitarian society in the 1800s. It thrived for a few decades, but like any society, the younger generations wanted to change. The original leaders believed that no one should be poor. Citizens that made more than others would give their “leader” money to disburse to poverty stuck individuals. However, when the town received its railroad in 1871 the gap between the impoverished and wealthy grew.  Slowly leading Bishop Hill to its downfall of  Utilitarianism and back into modern society in the early 1900s. 

Most Citizens of the United States would hear universal basic income and immediately think of communism in the Soviet Union. Where everyone in the USSR was given a place to live, monthly paychecks, and food. Though Basic Univeral Income is slightly different in terms of everyone just receiving a check regardless of income or work status. However both theories looked great on paper, but in practice the Soviet Union's were miserable. The USSR citizens found little reason to work unless threatened with death, and the government housing was so bad in regions that they were better off living on the streets. Families were crammed into small living quarters and during the winter the nation's food supply would dwindle so low that it was famine-type conditions. In retrospect what was once started for the citizen to live happier ended as an epic fail on a world-class stage. I will agree that communism isn’t extremely similar to universal basic income, but the idea of the government handling and giving money back to people is. As I forecast the issues of the poverty line getting worse sense even the top 1% would be getting more money than the billions they already earn. As our own government puts so much money already into food stamps, giving even more money away might hurt the bottom part of our economy. The same way that donations have crippled parts of Africa's economy, due to no demand for materials. 

So why did all of these attempts fail, on small scales and big nationwide scales? The best way to describe it is Niccolo Machiavelli’s theory of The Prince, based on corruption and the need for power. In those situations, the government abused its power and allowed its citizens to slowly either hate them or disburse. So it’s my deduction that believes that Universal Basic Income would fail on an even larger scale. As the government would be playing a dangerous game of  GPD decreasing and poverty increasing. The simple human desire to climb the social ladder would inevitably be the downfall if this program is implemented.

The idea of everyone reading a basic income is great, but in theory, the rich would get richer and the poor would get poorer. I would also have the concern that parts of the population would try to live off this basic income and not get jobs. As well as, where will the money for this program come from? Every Citizen already complains about taxes, and we all dread owing the government at the end of the year. So the idea of raising taxes just to give people a bit more spare change would go over well with most U.S. citizens. Don’t get me wrong I’m sure this money could help the impoverished community, but it also sets a threat to our whole economic system. According to Amadeo for The Balance “A universal income would replace housing vouchers, food stamps, and other programs.” However, she also brought up the point that “Cash payments that went to everyone would eliminate costly income-verification paperwork.” (Amadeo 2021). Her last statement concerns since the government can barely keep track of its own citizens and border. Does this also mean that any illegal immigrant could get their hands on the American universal basic income? Let alone it could get rid of important tax documents that families rely on to get refund checks. Overall there are too many blurred lines and technicalities for universal basic income to be reasonable in our society. This is why I believe that we shouldn’t be given universal basic income.