Is Universal Basic Income Biblical?

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.  –Alexander Fraser Tytler (1747-1813).

Four years ago, Scott Santens made a Christian argument for Universal Basic Income (here). He made it based upon the basic idea that the problem with the poor in the world is not that resources are not available, but that poor people cannot afford those resources (like food, shelter, clothing, etc), and that Christians are required by Jesus to be generous to others.

I would argue that he totally misrepresents scripture with his argument.

Let’s backtrack a moment.

 What in the world is Universal Basic Income (UBI)?

Let’s go to USNews for a definition.

The concept of UBI is simple. “It’s a check from the government every month to everyone with absolutely no justification,” says Wayne Winegarden, senior fellow in business and economics at the Pacific Research Institute, a free market think tank based in San Francisco. In other words, it is money distributed by the government to everyone, regardless of their income or need. (here)

The reason that we are talking about it now is that nearly every American citizen has received three such checks over the course of the previous year, and the idea of doing this permanently is in the public conversation again.  Its modern proponents are Bill Gates (Microsoft), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Tulsi Gabbard (US Congress), Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Elon Musk (Tesla), Pierre Omidyar (eBay), Jack Dorsey (Twitter), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), and many others (here).  Stockton, California is actually doing it–sending out cash to everyone (here).

It is a system that goes far beyond socialism. Both socialism and communism require people to work. Communism takes away private ownership but requires work participation from everyone. Socialism redistributes wealth at the whim of government, thus taking away the incentive to work. Universal basic income is different. It pays someone for existing without requiring work at all.

We can make a practical argument why this is a bad idea.

There are individual circumstances where needs exist, but this is not universal yet these payments are. UBI payments will not provide enough to end hunger or poverty in those that receive it. UBI will only succeed in making the costs of everything higher for everyone, including those that are homeless or hungry. That is exactly the result we are seeing now from the trillions in stimulus money poured on the economy. More people with money, with fewer people working providing goods and services, leads to runaway prices. UBI has not worked, especially in urban centers. It has been more effective in non-urban areas where the basic income is put to good use allowing people who are already working to work more effectively—see Alaska. Alaska’s situation is a little different in that people in the state are reaping the benefits of resources that they own as citizens of the state.

But is it biblical?

While we care about the needy, there has been no situation in human history where poverty does not exist. Even Jesus acknowledged this when extravagance was poured upon Him (Mark 14:7). Jesus is not saying we should not help the poor, but rather that the problem of poverty is not ultimately solvable.

True generosity is voluntary.

What about commands to give, and be generous? Those commands are given to individuals, not governments or even churches. The Temple did not give alms in ancient times, individuals did. Legislating generosity is a way of shifting responsibility for compassion from me personally to everyone else around me. God intended for compassion to be relational not institutional. This helps those receiving understand that they are receiving an expression of love and not just what they deserve from a government or institution. Individual giving creates a relationship between the giver and the one receiving. Lack of personal network is one of the greatest causes of poverty and loss. Such compassion should be filled by family (1 Timothy 5:8), but if the family is not present, then others can step in. Individual giving creates accountability.

No working, no eating.

For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10).

This is not just a Christian ideal, it is a command. Eating without working puts a burden on others. The New Testament recognizes times of famine, personal disability, and special situations. Paul even leads the charge in being generous to those in such circumstances (2 Corinthians 8 and 9). What he condemns is voluntary idleness and those who do not work while eating out of the pantries of those who do. This is such an important issue for believers, that Paul commanded members of the Thessalonian church to withdraw fellowship from those who refused to provide for their own living. Such idleness might seem a worldly ideal, but it should never be a Christian one.

Work is a creation gift.

Work is a blessing. It is what God created us to do. He gave Adam and Eve industrious activity even before the fall (Genesis 2:15). Not all work needs monetary compensation. Adam and Even did not receive a paycheck, but they were involved in productive, rewarding activities. The reward of doing something productive in order to meet my own needs and those around me is healthful for soul and body.

Reward without work leads to destruction.

Getting paid for doing nothing is the dream of fools that will eventually result in a wasted life and subjugation. Proverbs 13:4 tells us that the appetite of the sluggard will never be satisfied.  He always wants more.  While Proverbs 12:24 says that the end of such laziness is slavery.  The problem that Paul was dealing with in Thessalonica was that those that were idle became a burden to others and they filled their boredom by being busy-bodies.

There is a biblical balance between fiscal responsibility and compassion.

Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need (Ephesians 4:28).

While this passage is offering an alternative to stealing, its admonition is good for all of us.  Our ambition must not be to live off the labor of others or the largesse of the government treasury, but to work—to labor with our hands (or minds, or whatever skill set God has given us)—so that we can not only meet our own needs but also have extra to give to others around us who are in need.

So let’s get to work.