Why Surfers Should Be Fed: The Liberal Case for an Unconditional Basic Income

Abstract

This chapter argues that a defensible liberal theory of justice, that is, one that is truly committed to an equal concern for all and to nondiscrimination among conceptions of the good life, does justify, under appropriate factual conditions, a substantial unconditional basic income. There is a nonarbitrary and generally positive legitimate level of basic income that is determined by the per capita value of society&s;s external resources and must be entirely financed by those who appropriate these resources. If involuntary unemployment is high, the corresponding basic income will be high. The chapter also argues that Senator Yee was unfair to the welfare hippies, and that John Rawls is being unfair to the Malibu surfers. A first track well worth exploring is the one Rawls himself suggested in reply to an objection closely related to our Crazy-Lazy challenge, presented to him by Richard Musgrave.