4 ms·

I'm glad to see Thomas Paine referenced in this article. So many Americans don't realize that one of America's founding fathers championed the idea of universa

I'm glad to see Thomas Paine referenced in this article. So many Americans don't realize that one of America's founding fathers championed the idea of universal basic income back when the USA was just being created. This was something that Andrew Yang pointed out, but was largely ignored.

dependenttypes 6y ago
This is a very one-sided and unsupported (I don't see links to articles) argument. You can do better.
innocentoldguy 7y ago
I hear this a lot but in reading Paine’s writings, I can only find ideas somewhat similar to Social Security payments for elderly people. I have not been able to find anything in Paine’s writings that is synonymous with the concept of UBI. I’m not saying it isn’t in there somewhere, just that I haven’t found it. Would you mind citing specifically where you found this information?
- ineedasername 7y ago
  I'm not familiar with his writings to cite more detail, but it seems to me if he supported a sort of Social Security, then he was advocating for a targeted UBI. Maybe that's just semantics though.
- CuriousSkeptic 7y ago
  In Agrarian Justice he proposes to “ create a national fund, out of which there shall be paid to every person, when arrived at the age of twenty-one years, the sum of fifteen pounds sterling, as a compensation in part, for the loss of his or her natural inheritance, by the introduction of the system of landed property” He also makes it very clear that this isn’t some form of charity to help people. But rather about justice
  - danesparza 7y ago
    Wait -- so did I misunderstand? Is this more like reparations to native americans or slaves? I'm confused.
    - CuriousSkeptic 7y ago
      You can read it in full here https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Agrarian_Justice https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Agrarian_Justice But no he argues that “Every individual in the world is born therein with legitimate claims on a certain kind of property, or its equivalent.”
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
Der_Einzige 7y ago
Paine was the Bernie Sanders of his era. He was a hardcore humanist and abolitionist. Very few Americans realize how marganalized he became after the revolution. His story is a sad one and he should be celebrated far more than basically any other founding father by persons of conscious

dependenttypes 6y ago

This is a very one-sided and unsupported (I don't see links to articles) argument. You can do better.

innocentoldguy 7y ago

I hear this a lot but in reading Paine’s writings, I can only find ideas somewhat similar to Social Security payments for elderly people. I have not been able to find anything in Paine’s writings that is synonymous with the concept of UBI. I’m not saying it isn’t in there somewhere, just that I haven’t found it. Would you mind citing specifically where you found this information?

ineedasername 7y ago
I'm not familiar with his writings to cite more detail, but it seems to me if he supported a sort of Social Security, then he was advocating for a targeted UBI. Maybe that's just semantics though.
CuriousSkeptic 7y ago
In Agrarian Justice he proposes to “ create a national fund, out of which there shall be paid to every person, when arrived at the age of twenty-one years, the sum of fifteen pounds sterling, as a compensation in part, for the loss of his or her natural inheritance, by the introduction of the system of landed property” He also makes it very clear that this isn’t some form of charity to help people. But rather about justice
- danesparza 7y ago
  Wait -- so did I misunderstand? Is this more like reparations to native americans or slaves? I'm confused.
  - CuriousSkeptic 7y ago
    You can read it in full here https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Agrarian_Justice https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Agrarian_Justice But no he argues that “Every individual in the world is born therein with legitimate claims on a certain kind of property, or its equivalent.”

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

Der_Einzige 7y ago

Paine was the Bernie Sanders of his era. He was a hardcore humanist and abolitionist. Very few Americans realize how marganalized he became after the revolution. His story is a sad one and he should be celebrated far more than basically any other founding father by persons of conscious