Baby Steps: Basic Income and the Need for Incremental Organizational Development

Antipoverty movements have generated many little or near basic
income guarantee (BIG) proposals. Most theorists discussing BIG posit a full-fledged
universal grant that entirely satisfies the core value guiding their theory. Debates are
conducted about feasibility, desirability and rival values. This article looks into
particular considerations that need to be made when debating a little BIG. If a
status value, meaning all or nothing, is the core value under debate, then a grant
falling short of securing this status will need some other justification. If the core
value is scalar, meaning there can be more or less of it, then a lower grant can be
justified if it is an efficient way to add to that value. I offer two reasons that a little
BIG can have merit:
1. Organizations will benefit because the grant provides a clear
target for citizen action.
2. There are reasons to think that a BIG of whatever size will
promote organizational capabilities more efficiently than money coming from an
employer, family member or conditional public entitlement (13 стр. )