Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Myths About The State Of Nature And The Reality Of Stateless Societies, Karl Widerquist, Grant Mccall

Karl Widerquist

The Big Casino, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

This paper uses an analogy to illustrate two things: (1) the economy is and will always be a casino, and (2) in existing societies and most libertarian, liberal, and socialist visions of society individuals are effectively forced to participate in the casino economy. It argues justice requires that individuals must be free from forced participation in such an economy and that the best way to free people from forced participation is the provision of a Basic Income Guarantee.

The Basic Income Guarantee In The United States: Past Experience, Current Proposals, Karl Widerquist, Allan Sheahen

Karl Widerquist

No abstract provided.

Chapter X: Bibliography, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

No abstract provided.

The Alaska Model As A Menu Of Options, Karl Widerquist, Michael W. Howard

Karl Widerquist

No abstract provided.

Chapter 3: Forty Acres And A Mule? Implications Of The Duty To Respect Person Independence, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

No abstract provided.

Chapter 7: What Good Is A Theory Of Freedom That Allows Forced Labor? Independence And Modern Theories Of Freedom, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

No abstract provided.

Chapter 4: The Importance Of Independence I: Framing The Issue, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

No abstract provided.

Chapter 9: On Duty, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

No abstract provided.

Chapter 8: If You're An Egalitarian, Why Do You Want To Be The Boss Of The Poor? Independence And Liberal-Egalitarian Theories Of Justice, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

No abstract provided.

Chapter 5: The Importance Of Independence Ii: Freedom An Integrity, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

No abstract provided.

Chapter 6: The Importance Of Independence Iii: Market Vulnerability, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

No abstract provided.

Chapter 0: Prologue, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

No abstract provided.

Chapter 2: Status Freedom As Effective Control Self-Ownership, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

No abstract provided.

Chapter X10: Conclusion, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

No abstract provided.

A Day-Long Discussion Of “The Alaska Model” At The University Of Alaska-Anchorage, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

On April 22, 2011, I had the privilege of attending a conference at the University of Alaska-Anchorage discussing the book, Exporting the Alaska Model: How the Permanent Fund Dividend Can Be Adapted as Model for Reform Around the World. The book is edited by Michael W. Howard and me. It is due out early next year on Palgrave-MacMillan. This is my personal account of a conference held on Friday, April 22, 2011 at the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the University of Alaska

Why We Demand An Unconditional Basic Income: The Ecso Freedom Case, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

Philippe Van Parijs’s (1995) Real Freedom for All: What (If Anything) Can Justify Capitalism makes a very thorough and challenging philosophical argument for basic income. But I believe that it has two important limitations that inhibit it from giving a compelling explanation why basic income supporters believe that support for the disadvantage must be not only universal but also unconditional and enough to meet an individual’s basic needs. This essay briefly discusses those limitations and then proposes an alternative argument for basic income that I believe relies on a more compelling concept of freedom, defined below as “Freedom as Effective …

Two Memoirs Tell The History Of The Alaska Dividend, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend is closer to a basic income than almost any other policy in the world today. The lessons of how it was created and how it became so popular and successful are extremely important to the basic income movement. Two autobiographies available now tell different parts of the story of the Alaska Dividend. One is by Jay Hammond, the governor who, more than anyone else, is responsible for creating the fund and dividend. The other is by Dave Rose, the first executive director of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation. This review essay draws lessons for the basic …

How The Sufficiency Minimum Becomes A Social Maximum, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

This article argues that, under likely empirical conditions, sufficientarianism leads not to an easily achievable duty to maintain a social minimum but to the onerous duty of maintaining a social maximum at the sufficiency level. This happens because sufficientarians ask us to give no weight at all to small benefits for people above the sufficiency level if the alternative is to relieve the suffering of people below it. If we apply this judgment in a world where there are rare diseases and hard-to-prevent accidents that cause people to fall below the sufficiency threshold, all of our discretionary spending will have …

Lockean Theories Of Property: Justifications For Unilateral Appropriation, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

Although John Locke’s theory of appropriation is undoubtedly influential, no one seems to agree about exactly what he was trying to say. It is unlikely that someone will write the interpretation that effectively ends the controversy. Instead of trying to find the one definitive interpretation of Locke’s property theory, this article attempts to identify the range of reasonable interpretations and extensions of Lockean property theory that exist in the contemporary literature with an emphasis on his argument for unilateral appropriation. It goes through Locke’s argument point-by-point discussing the controversy over what he said and over what he perhaps should have …

What Does Prehistoric Anthropology Have To Do With Modern Political Philosophy? Evidence Of Five False Claims, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

Lessons Of The Alaska Dividend, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

At a time when progressive social policies are under attack across the industrialized world, the Alaska Dividend continues to be extremely popular. It distributes a yearly dividend to every man, woman, and child in Alaska without any conditions whatsoever. It has helped Alaska maintain one of the lowest poverty rates in the United States. It has helped Alaska become the most economically equal of all 50 states. And it has helped Alaska become the only U.S. state in which equality has risen rather than fallen over the last 20 years. Certainly Alaska is doing something right. As newsletter editor for …

I Have A Basic Income, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

In a period of about eight months, I managed to save and invest enough money to get myself a small personal basic income. It was easy—if you get the kind of lucky breaks I got. I’m telling you this story only because it illustrates how much our economic fortunes are determined by luck, how favorably our laws treat people who own stuff (people who have obtained control of natural resources) and how much unearned income is available for redistribution.

A Dilemma For Libertarianism, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

Keeping The Global Recession In Perspective, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

The global recession has been spreading and deepening for nearly a year. It could become the worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and it has captured nearly all of the attention we, our media, and our leaders pay to economic issues. Perhaps we’re paying too much attention to it. I want to convince you in this editorial that a recession—even a major depression—is not an economic problem of the first magnitude. Our most pressing economic problems are distribution, and they exist whether we are in recession or not. Recessions appear to be a major problem primarily because …

The Economic Lesson Of 1938, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

Economic events of 1938 are relevant to our handling of the global recession today.

The Physical Basis Of Voluntary Trade, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

The article discusses the conditions under which can we say that people enter the economic system voluntarily. “The Need for an Exit Option” briefly explains the philosophical argument that voluntary interaction requires an exit option—a reasonable alternative to participation in the projects of others. “The Treatment of Effective Forced Labor in Economic and Political Theory” considers the treatment of effectively forced interaction in economic and political theory. “Human Need” discusses theories of human need to determine the capabilities a person requires to have an acceptable exit option. “Capability in Cash, Kind, or Raw Resources” considers what form access to that …

An Introduction To Citizens Capital Accounts, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

No abstract provided.

The Economic Possibilities Of Our Grandparents, A Retrospective On John Maynard Keynes's Economic Possibilities Of Our Grandchildren, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

A Retrospective On The Negative Income Tax Experiments: Looking Back At The Most Innovative Field Studies In Social Policy, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

No abstract provided.