Asset-based egalitarianism
Encyclopedia
Egalitarianism
Egalitarianism is a trend of thought that favors equality of some sort among moral agents, whether persons or animals. Emphasis is placed upon the fact that equality contains the idea of equity of quality...
which theorises that equality
Social equality
Social equality is a social state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect. At the very least, social equality includes equal rights under the law, such as security, voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and the...
is possible by a redistribution of resources, usually in the form of a capital
Financial capital
Financial capital can refer to money used by entrepreneurs and businesses to buy what they need to make their products or provide their services or to that sector of the economy based on its operation, i.e. retail, corporate, investment banking, etc....
grant provided at the age of majority
Age of majority
The age of majority is the threshold of adulthood as it is conceptualized in law. It is the chronological moment when minors cease to legally be considered children and assume control over their persons, actions, and decisions, thereby terminating the legal control and legal responsibilities of...
. Names for the implementation of this theory in policy
Policy
A policy is typically described as a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. The term is not normally used to denote what is actually done, this is normally referred to as either procedure or protocol...
include universal basic capital and stakeholding, and are generally synonymous within the equal opportunity egalitarian framework.
Historical development
The idea has been around since Thomas PaineThomas Paine
Thomas "Tom" Paine was an English author, pamphleteer, radical, inventor, intellectual, revolutionary, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States...
(January 29, 1737 – June 8, 1809) in his work Agrarian Justice
Agrarian Justice
Agrarian Justice is the title of a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine, published in 1797, which advocated the use of an estate tax and a tax on land values to fund a universal old-age and disability pension, as well as a fixed sum to be paid to all citizens on reaching maturity...
1795, and complemented his other thesis of basic income
Basic income
A basic income guarantee is a proposed system of social security, that regularly provides each citizen with a sum of money. In contrast to income redistribution between nations themselves, the phrase basic income defines payments to individuals rather than households, groups, or nations, in order...
.
Two independent schools of thought were developed on the subject, involving individuals from the American Labour Movement and scholars of the Belgian School. However, the same reasoning (given by both schools) behind the basic capital proposal is the redistribution of wealth usually funded by an inheritance tax
Inheritance tax
An inheritance tax or estate tax is a levy paid by a person who inherits money or property or a tax on the estate of a person who has died...
in order to provide a universal and unconditional sum of money (or capital assets) at the age of majority. From most authors, the intention was to create a nominal grant for everyone based on a deserved natural inheritance of the earth.
Relationship with policy
In the policy format, asset-based egalitarianism is usually seen as the opposite policy proposal of Philippe Van ParijsPhilippe Van Parijs
Philippe Van Parijs is a Belgian philosopher and political economist, mainly known as a proponent and main defender of the basic income concept.-Education:...
and his thesis of basic income
Basic income
A basic income guarantee is a proposed system of social security, that regularly provides each citizen with a sum of money. In contrast to income redistribution between nations themselves, the phrase basic income defines payments to individuals rather than households, groups, or nations, in order...
, but asset-based egalitarian proposals have received less academic attention. However, more recently the wave of third way
Third way (centrism)
The Third Way refers to various political positions which try to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of right-wing economic and left-wing social policies. Third Way approaches are commonly viewed from within the first- and second-way perspectives as...
politics has seen much more emphasis placed on responsibility
Moral responsibility
Moral responsibility usually refers to the idea that a person has moral obligations in certain situations. Disobeying moral obligations, then, becomes grounds for justified punishment. Deciding what justifies punishment, if anything, is a principle concern of ethics.People who have moral...
and equality of opportunity and has reopened an old debate.
Some famous recent work on the policy efficaciousness of universal basic capital or asset-based egalitarianism has been conducted by Bruce Ackerman
Bruce Ackerman
Bruce Arnold Ackerman is an American constitutional law scholar. He is a Sterling Professor at Yale Law School and one of the most frequently cited legal academics in the United States....
and Anne Alstott in The Stakeholder Society. In this policy proposal, the method of funding the 'stake' was by means of a wealth tax
Wealth tax
A wealth tax is generally conceived of as a levy based on the aggregate value of all household holdings actually accumulated as purchasing power stock , including owner-occupied housing; cash, bank deposits, money funds, and savings in insurance and pension plans; investment in real estate and...
and provides a sum of $80,000 for those reaching the age of majority.
In actual policy, Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
and the British Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
initiated the United Kingdom Child Trust Fund
Child Trust Fund
A Child Trust Fund is a long-term savings or investment account for children in the United Kingdom. New accounts cannot be created but existing accounts can receive new money...
, while in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
the idea has been implemented in the form of Individual Development Accounts
Individual Development Accounts
In the United States, an Individual Development Account is a matched savings account that enables low-income American families to save, build assets, and enter the financial mainstream...
and argued for by Michael Sherraden. These remain the nearest practical examples.
One of the motivations of the related policy such as the Child Trust Fund is clear from this excerpt:
Criticism
Asset-based egalitarian policies, such as the Ackerman and Alstott proposals, are often criticised as not being egalitarian. Due to different people having different abilities and talents to utilise financial wealth, there is always a risk that those without formal financial education would alienate their own freedom by dissipating their capital or 'stakeblowing.' Stuart White argued that unless education corrected for this, there would be an inegalitarian outcome, as people fundamentally have different asset-management capacities.See also
- American Labour Movement
- Basic incomeBasic incomeA basic income guarantee is a proposed system of social security, that regularly provides each citizen with a sum of money. In contrast to income redistribution between nations themselves, the phrase basic income defines payments to individuals rather than households, groups, or nations, in order...
(similar proposal) - Child Trust FundChild Trust FundA Child Trust Fund is a long-term savings or investment account for children in the United Kingdom. New accounts cannot be created but existing accounts can receive new money...
- Citizens dividend (as 'basic income')
- Individual Development AccountsIndividual Development AccountsIn the United States, an Individual Development Account is a matched savings account that enables low-income American families to save, build assets, and enter the financial mainstream...
- 'Third Way' political philosophyThird way (centrism)The Third Way refers to various political positions which try to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of right-wing economic and left-wing social policies. Third Way approaches are commonly viewed from within the first- and second-way perspectives as...