"We see a broken system that the rich have rigged to steal,
from poor and weak who only seek to beg an honest deal.
The time has come to set it straight, a Nation we must heal,
— For Justice Marches On!"
Lyrics by Vector Hasting, from Lyrics to The Battle Hymn for Fair And Share.
Performances by Suno AI
What is Right?
Written in great words, we have a baseline for the rights of everyone:
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
In modern times, we have added another key element: Dignity.
How can we guarantee Life, the Pursuit of Happiness, and Dignity when Life itself requires working for those more wealthy than ourselves?
How is this a morally acceptable situation?
Thomas Payne in Agrarian Justice in 1797 argued for a universal basic income to guarantee basic human rights to all.
Here is an excellent primer on this subject that explores Thomas Payne’s logic.
This logic is just as relevant today as it was then:
Then as now all the land is owned.
Then as now that ownership is becoming more and more concentrated.
Then as now, there was violent revolution in the air.
Then: it was the French Revolution, one of the worlds most senseless bloodbaths.
Now: what will it be?
Even more ancient and more to the moral point is The Lords Prayer.
After its devotional elements which affirm Thy Will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven, there are only two things which the prayer-maker may ask without conditions: give us this day our daily bread and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
(The only other ask from God is for forgiveness: but for that the prayer-maker must forgive those who trespass against them.)
If we are to do God’s will, then according to the Lord’s Prayer, we should work on earth to insure daily bread for all.
Is it fair for people to pass on their wealth to their children?
This is something we all aspire to.
Is it fair that because wealth was passed on over thousands of years, that the vast majority of people to day are born into a world where they must work for other people just to live, while the other people they work for become increasingly wealthy by magnifying the value of the majority’s work?
This is the situation for 99% of us. And resentment is building to righteous indignation.
Such levels of indignation are harmful to all of society: the 99% and the 1%.
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