–– Titus Cantrell

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South Africa could become the first country in the world to implement a Universal Basic Income (UBI) grant, according to recent articles by Business Tech and Yahoo Finance. 

The University of Witwatersrand defines Universal Basic Income as an “unconditional cash transfer paid regularly to all on the basis of citizenship.” A prominent supporter of this economic policy defined it as, “A cash grant to all, no questions asked, no strings attached.”

The basic tenet of UBI is that the government can accomplish its goal of eradicating inequality by offering a guaranteed income to everyone. Proponents of UBI, such as the ANC (African National Congress), argue that it could “effectively eliminate poverty in society.” 

On May 22, just one week before the country’s general elections, South Africa’s largest political party released a statement saying, “We support a Basic Income Grant that benefits all individuals without work-seeking conditions.” Though the ANC lost some support in the general election, the majority of votes were cast for parties in favor of some kind of Basic Income Grant. Furthermore, a recent study from the University of Johannesburg showed that 63% of South Africans are in favor of “social assistance whereby each individual is guaranteed to receive a basic amount of monthly income.”

Christians considering this economic policy should be aware that it is principally flawed and practically – impossible. 

First, Universal Basic Income as an economic policy is principally flawed. It represents an unbiblical understanding of both government and work. Government is appointed by God to uphold justice. 1 Pet 2:14 says that the role of human rulers is the “punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.” Government is in the business of incentives – offering citizens good reasons to do right, and painful reasons to avoid doing wrong. 

An incentive is a motivation for a decision; the understanding that actions have consequences. Economists often speak of “incentive structures” in government policy. What kind of result are you offering for a certain kind of action? Universal Basic Income offers reward without righteousness, incentivizing sloth by removing the natural link between labor and income. 

Proverbs 16:26 says “A worker’s appetite works for him, For his hunger urges him on.” God has created a natural incentive structure in the human stomach to motivate man to cultivate the earth. Dominion of a post-fall, thorns-and-thistles world is difficult – and if we didn’t get hungry, most of us would not work. For this reason, Paul encourages the Thessalonian church to stop giving food to lazy church members when he writes “if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.” He commands begging church members to “work in a quiet fashion and eat their own bread.” (2 Thess 3:10b, 12b emphasis mine) God has created the world so that laziness leads to hunger and hunger motivates work. If we remove the link between the first two, we will inevitably lose the last one. 

Second, Universal Basic Income examined practically, is impossible.

Monthly payments to every citizen naturally involve an incredibly high cost. So where will all this money come from? The primary avenue proposed for funding a basic income grant is increased taxation on wealthy individuals and successful businesses. 

Considering UBI once more from the standpoint of incentives, if this policy was implemented throughout South Africa, wealthy individuals and successful businesses would be less incentivized to create value in the economy by taking risks and seeking profit. Higher taxes would result in less wealth creation for the country as a whole since the government would claim a large portion of income over a certain level. Furthermore, an incentive would be created for businesses and individuals to leave the country in order to preserve their family’s standard of living.  

Universal basic income is rooted in the Marxist idea that wealth is produced by extortion, and the only solution to poverty is redistribution – giving the masses back what was taken from them. On the contrary, Scripture teaches that honest wealth is a gift of God, normally granted through the means of diligent labor (Deut 8:18, Prov 10:4). Injustice certainly exists, and thus government has been given the sword (Rom 13:4). But in contrast to social justice, biblical justice should not be perverted either in favor of the wealthy or the poor (Lev 19:15, Prov 17:26).

Admittedly, there are some in society who legitimately cannot feed themselves through diligent work. God provides for orphans and widows through gleaning laws in Deuteronomy 24 and through the generosity of the church in Acts 6. However, the normal means of provision is the income given as a just return for a man’s work. (Luke 10:7) Addressing the crisis of poor widows in the church, Paul states that those who do not provide for their own household have “denied the faith” and are “worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Tim 5:8) 

The desire for universal wealth is not wrong. But people are looking in the wrong place. There is only one kingdom with that kind of cash, and it’s not a kingdom of this world. When Christ reigns, all the citizens of the kingdom of heaven will receive abundant wealth from his hand. Poverty will be a distant memory as the saints stroll down streets of gold. But until then, the solution to earthly poverty is hard work, justice, and generosity – not institutionalized envy and theft.