You Realize The Universal Basic Income Is Feudalism, Right?By Daisy Luther Feudalism. And theyll welcome it with open arms, convinced that they are embracing a smart, fair system that eliminates poverty. The greed, entitlement, and lack of ambition that seems inherent in many people today will have them slipping on the yoke of servitude willingly. Heres what I mean. Have you ever been around people who say things like, I cant afford it, but I deserve it Having [fill in the blank with a material object] is a basic right Losing that right is okay with me because its for the greater good. But the thing is, what we deserve is the right to pursue our dreams freely. No one owes us anything other than that. Alot of people disagree with that list of rights. They feel like they deserve a living just for drawing breath. As Gawkers headline reads, A Universal Basic Income Is the Utopia We Deserve. The basic income movement got a significant boost this week when the charity GiveDirectly announced that it will be pursuing a ten-year, $30 million pilot project giving a select group of Kenyan villagers a basic income and studying its effects. As an anti-poverty solution, universal basic income appeals to impoverished people in Africa, relatively well-off Scandinavians, and Americans automated out of their jobs alike. Sure, money for nothing sounds great on the surface. But what would the real result of a Universal Basic Income be? Feudalism. Serfdom. Enslavement. UBI would fast track us back to the feudalism of the Middle Ages. Sure, wed be living in slick, modern micro-efficiencies instead of shacks. Wed have some kind of modern job instead of raising sheep for the lord of the manor. But, in the end, we wouldnt actually own anything because private property would be abolished for all but the ruling class. Wed no longer have the ability to get ahead in life.Our courses would be set for us and veering off of those courses would be harshly discouraged. People will be completely dependent on the government and ruling class for every necessity: food, shelter, water, clothing. What better way to assert control than to make compliance necessary for survival? (If youre like me and a life of serfdom is not the future you want,you have to take your independence into your hands. Go here for a bundle of self-reliance downloads, absolutely free, to help you do just that.) The period of history from the 5th to the 15th century was known as the Middle Ages. During this time, the law of the land in Europe was the feudal system. This system was the manner in which the upper 10% (the nobility) controlled the lower 90% (the serfs or peasants). It is estimated that just over 90% of the population of Europe were peasants. Most peasants were basically slaves. They were provided with a small shelter on an inferior piece of land and the protection of the noble in charge of that area. In return, they worked for the estate, farming the land with no recompense, paying taxes and having no control over their lives. Some peasants were free and had small businesses: blacksmiths, carpenters, bakers, etc. They paid for the protection of the Lord with money, goods, and services. Peasants had few rights. They could be taxed at any time, were obligated to use (and pay for) services of the manor like mills or large ovens, and had to request permission for marriages, change of locations or educating their children. Each year, the peasant was required to give the best part of his harvest to the lord of the manor. The peasants were not allowed to own things that made their lives easier, like oxen or horses, for example. A peasant did not own the land on which he lived and was therefore obligated to live where he was told, grow what he was told, and farm in the manner in which he was told. They were not allowed to hunt on the lords land poaching was an offense punishable by death. They were not permitted to cut trees for firewood but forced to gather fallen branches to stay warm. A peasant was not allowed to have real, effective weapons those were reserved for the armies of the nobility, to keep the peasants in line and immediately quell any quest for dignity and independence. Most of the peasants seemed content with the arrangement because they received security and safety from the Lord. He was obligated to protect them from marauders and barbariansand provide enough land for subsistence. (Learn more about feudalism here.) Over the past years, the education has drummed a sense of entitlement into students. And now, world leaders are counting on using that feeling of entitlement to march society willingly right into a tiny gilded cage. The World Economic Forum is held yearly in Davos, Switzerland. It is at this meeting where a couple thousand of the worlds top economic and political leaders meet to plot our future. If you think Im crazy for the comparison between UBI and serfdom, wait until you see this years vision for our future. Ida Auken, a Danish politician who is a contributor to the World Economic Forum, doesnt believe we should own things.She doesnt stop at personal possessions, though. She believes we should eschew privacy in our homes, that cash is unnecessary, and that even our thoughts and dreams are not really ours. You can read about her idea of a perfect future in an article for the Annual Meeting of the Global Futures Council titled Welcome to 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better. In her article, Auken idealizes feudalism, and the kinds of people who believe they deserve certain entitlements, like the UBI will welcome this loss of individuality and freedom with open arms. Watch the video below. I couldnt make this up if I tried. For more information about a futuristic feudal society, watch the documentary Obsolete, available for free with an Amazon Prime membership. Daisy is a coffee-swigging, gun-toting, homeschooling blogger who writes about current events, preparedness, frugality, and the pursuit of liberty on her websites, The Organic Prepper and DaisyLuther.com, where this article first appeared. She is the author of 4 booksand the co-founder of Preppers University, where she teaches intensive preparednesscourses in a live online classroom setting. You can follow her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Image Credit I think your view is too Black White! Consider, Marx omits or ignores that creditors/savers are by defacto haves, and debtors/spenders are by defacto have nots Try not to focus on the paradigm as much as the historical significance of political maneuvering for the benefit of political expediency that results in historical figures and statistics The UBI is designed to prevent revolution. If you cant buy food, transportation, or housing, because you cant get employment your going to revolt. If too many people start thinking the same thing at the same time you have a major problem. The UBI will keep the masses happy. It might even work IF government, regulations, and taxes are reduced at the same time. You would have to transition to a sound money as well, because it would bankrupt a debt based money system. The author is making all the wrong assumptions that people wouldnt seek work or start up their own small business if they had a basic guaranteed income; that the ideal of owning a home or whatever would disappear; that people are generally lazy, etc. Fact is, that paid jobs are disappearing and that this trend will accelerate in the near future. THAT would lead to serfdom, as those without jobs would be willing to sell their organs, their daughters or themselves for a cup of rice. How does the author propose society should adapt to the inevitability of our no jobs future? Decades ago, some clever people already foresaw this future scenario where the world would and could be run by around 20 percent of the people, while 80 percent would be out of work cf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Global_Trap There IS a case for the UBI, even from a libertarian perspective: https://www.cato-unbound.org/2014/08/04/matt-zwolinski/pragmatic-libertarian-case-basic-income-guarantee If we dont need much labor anymore to produce what we need, great. But why should 20% work, and the others free-ride? Split up the work so everyone will do a little. All those things peasants were not allowed or had to ask permission for is already here, like weapon limitations and permission to marry, private asset forfeiture, toll roads and every move/action regulated and or licensed. Not a problem for the oligarchs though. You deserve what you earn ? so the ultra wealthy deserve their wealth ? rubbish ! The universal basic income (UBI) is not a courtesy of the rich in exchange for obedience like in feudalism, it is the just sharing of the PIB between us all. THANK YOU for bringing this article back around to todays world. We arent peasants and never will be. That doesnt mean there arent trade offsthere always are. Bottom linewe could make this work. You deserve what you earn ? so the ultra wealthy deserve their wealth ? rubbish! Anyone who have lawfully made their wealth in consensual relations with others have earned it. 99% of whom paid off government agency welfare employees for the public wealth contracts that made them wealthy, or paid off corrupt politicians for laws that made them wealthy, etc. etc. Lets not be naive when our the freedom of future generations is totally at stake. In the past 25 years, weve seen the Middle Class eliminated, or werent you looking? Your undocumentable 99% claim is not proof of anything and if corruptable state employees facilitate the problem as you claim, then state is the problem, not the guy with the wallet. Christian also didnt narrow his the wealthy label down to your health care provider niche. Stop altering the statements of others to help them rake their chestnuts out of the fire. Like you know anything about how 99% of the rich made their money. Your undocumentable claim is not proof of anything and if corruptable state employees facilitate the problem as you claim, then violence monopolizing state enforcing for oligarchy via order-following automatons is the problem, not the guy with the wallet. This is a blog forum, not a thesis. I am always happy for those who work hard or create great and reap the benefits, but thats not what I was talking about based on how the .01% make the big bucks, and I think you must know that cheap labor also is key to profit making. If getting Congress or State legislatures to pass tax breaks and credits wasnt profitable to the rich, then why do so many of the rich pay to play? I know, but it doesnt mean people can just throw around wild claims and not have to deliver. I am not saying that SOME rich people do not bribe officials, of course they do, Im saying the guy with the wallet is not the bigger problem, the one taking the bribe and thus abusing state power to the detriment of the people is. The Clintons and their foundation with its pay to play principle is a great example here. If oligarchs can manage to pay their way into using the US army as their own private baseball bat against the rest of the world to have their way and state officials take the money and so reduce the state to nothing more than a transparent tool of organized monopolised violence for the payers own ends, the corrupted party and their statist gang of order-followers is the bigger problem, not the rich guy. Dont forget how the FED came into being: corrupt officials in congress passing the FED-bill in clear violation of the constitution after nearly all the non-corrupt officials in congress had gone on Christmas holiday. I think its rather clear what the main problem is. Criminal politicians and an apathetic population who cannot be driven to give a damn large-scale even if their own lives depended on it. Nasty minded oligarchs are powerless with the state, until someone takes the money and starts to act in servitude. As long as there is centralized power with monopolized violence at the hands of mindless order-followers centralized in state, this will always be a problem. Collectivism as a political paradigm has to go or doom is inevitable. Yes, we are on the same page with respect to most of what you write. The Clintons Pay to Play schemes were the most visible of the world of corruption and bribery, all made possible when the US Supreme Court sanctified bribery in their famous decision Citizens United making it Free Speech. There are other such cases coming out of this current SCOTUS. Since bribery is legitimate as Free Speech, then all politicians will follow suit, so the folks most responsible for this easy climate of corruption are the justices/judges. Statistics show as many as 80% of the Fortune 500 paying little to no taxes, and the amount of corporate profits the remain offshore and not subject to taxation exceed $4 Trillion. 40 years ago, chief executives in corporations seldom made over $1 Million/year. Care to check out how much of corporate revenues goes into the pockets of executives? 40 years ago there were dozens of lobbyists. Today there are hundreds and hundreds. Who is buying who? I read that if a corporation that uses bribes, oops I mean Free Speech, to get what they want doesnt make 130% return on their money spent or more, then they consider it a failed bribe. Name me one state that generally abides by the principle do not do unto others what you would not like done unto yourself. Money kept away from criminal states is money these cant spend on (war)criminality and general despotism against the population of the land. They are all involved in large-scale racketeering and ponzi scheming and they all operate by general mafia conduct. The most common cause of death among humanity is democide death by state and this is only possible with tax revenue used to pay order-followers and other forms of state employed henchmen. This is all possible because people have accepted the notion of the god state; the state whos employees are exempted from the law that all other citizens have to obey. The overwhelming majority of humanity is caught up in a massive stockholmsyndromistic relationship with the state-employed of the world. Free your mind, stop feeding the malignant parasitic servant class and their rulers. You may be right that Oligarchic wealth in many cases is gained by crime and corruption however all Communist redistribution and Feudal U.B.I. is a trap for fools as outlined above. Re: comments here: The Borg is alive and well. Ill agree with first 2 things we deserve but when one accumulates much more money (power) than his neighbor, the basic instinct among those types is to use that power to deny the first 2 things to others and then to control them and move forcefully against the next accumulator to take his stuff. There is already enough resources in the world to provide food, clothing, shelter, education and entertainment for all. Once these basic NEEDS are met, then we can promote the things that will produce a more perfect union. The worship of the unbridled accumulation of power and things is the worship of evil. Entertainment? Really? Absolutely! The Devil finds work for idle hands and minds. Globalism (so-called free trade) has served only the corporations and government lackeys who have their stocks in those corporations. Perhaps buy the book on Amazon and read it to gain a real understanding of its general gist. No. UBI for some is feudalism. UBI for all is feudalism where everyones royalty. Its not for nothing that in a democracy, the people are supposed to be the sovereign. But yeah, people deserving access to nature and our societal inheritance, where would we get if that was a reality? Even if they cant pay for it? Wait, pay who for that? You say you want a UBI for some but not all, derived from unearned incomes that people need to pay when they want to access things they could reason to freely use, in a less coercive society? Whether people will be trapped because they feel entitled to a lifestyle, or be sovereigns, because they feel entitled to the wealth of this planet and our forefathers, thats something time will tell. A UBI is essential as expression of the individuals sovereignty in democracy, either way. Ideally much more than a UBI. But hey you gotta start somewhere. tl;dr: people are, and should feel, entitled to much more than a petty lifestyle, today. People are entitled to be making economic micro and macro decisions, to properly express to each other what is societally beneficial. How else would we figure out what it societally beneficial, what jobs should pay a lot and what should go away? Its in this free market process, that is only enabled by the presence of people who can spend money, that an ever more productive future lies for mankind. And in people who understand their duty to demand sovereignty, in such a process. Both as providers of the incomes of each other, and as the people who deliver on that customer spending, as one sees fit to capture such opportune incomes. We deserve what we earn. Just curious, how do you get to obtain property to begin with? Put your name tag on something where nobody thought of putting a name tag yet? Original appropriation sure is fun, if you come first. Its worse now than feudalism already. Many people cant even work the land because they live in a box with no land to grow food on for themselves but they still have to pay taxes. Try growing food in your small yard if you have one and its either toxic already from lawn chemicals or they fine you and tell you youre not allowed. I have a basic right to water. Do you think that is unreasonable or selfish? I cant legally collect rainwater though, even though its toxic crap. I have a basic right to not be poisoned. Is that unreasonable? I dont get that right though. I walk outside, breathe the air and Im poisoned, just like that, from all the toxic crap evrrywhere, like vented laundry chemicals, weed killers and chemtrails. We do have some basic rights. Money is not one of them but we are already being denied many. No one owes us anything other than that. Wrong. We used to be able to hunt and gather whatever we wanted from nature, and have security in the sense that nature would provide for us anything that we needed, but that security has been gradually taken from us. It has come to pass that certain individuals and organisations have claimed they are now the sole owners of the land, which is impossible since it was there before there were even any humans so either allow us to take whatever we needed from nature for free or give us compensation. 