The Moral-Ecological Case for Basic Income: Changing Minds and Hearts

This chapter draws connections between evidence-based arguments (including the ‘green’ argument) for basic income found in academic research and policy literature, and morally grounded arguments for basic income that can be grounded in philosophy and ethics. The former body of literature makes rational appeals designed to change ‘minds’. The latter set of arguments can be deployed to change ‘hearts’—that is, to appeal to human emotions and strongly held moral convictions that can move us to action (while at the same time making rational sense to us). The chapter draws from both Western moral philosophy (including practical reasoning in the pursuit of human flourishing, radical egalitarianism, reciprocity, and intergenerational justice) and Indigenous knowledges, to argue that changing both minds and hearts is necessary if we are to achieve the adoption of basic income. This achievement could, in turn, provide a path to a post-growth economy that is just and redistributive, which is arguably necessary if we are to adequately address environmental threats, including the climate emergency.