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Karl Widerquist

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The Indepentarian

This blog is mostly about my research and related politics and activism, but sometimes I write on anything

The essential reason I support UBI and a voluntary-participation economy (Mandatory Participation on Trial, Part 2)

April 20, 2023April 21, 2023 Karl WiderquistThe Indepentarian

Mandatory Participation Series Contents It’s wrong for anyone to come between another person and the resources they need to survive. No person or group has the moral authority to impose conditions on anyone else’s access to the resources they need […]

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Mandatory Participation on Trial (Part 1)

April 13, 2023August 10, 2023 Karl WiderquistThe Indepentarian

            I don’t think you’d feel much better if these new owners somehow improved the atmosphere, say, by taking out pollutants or making it more breathable. I don’t think you’d feel much better if atmosphere-access subscriptions were “affordably priced,” so that, […]

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Freiburg University’s Online Basic Income Workshop Series, Spring 2022

May 1, 2022May 15, 2022 Karl WiderquistThe Indepentarian

Hosted by Karl Widerquist (Karl@widerquist.com)Tuesdays 16:00 (s.t.) – 18:15 May 10 Video: Simon März, Video: “An extensive Universal Basic Income pilot study in Germany. A critical analysis of the proposed implementation of a UBI pilot study; further fields of research […]

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The Ethics of Universal Basic Income Video Series

March 16, 2022March 16, 2022 Karl WiderquistThe Indepentarian

The masters seminar “Ethics of Universal Basic Income” took place over six weeks in January and February 2022 at the University of Freiburg. These videos of the seminar are posted on my YouTube Channel both as a playlist and individually: […]

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“The Ethics of Universal Basic Income:” videos and readings from a Masters Seminar

January 1, 2022October 23, 2022 Karl WiderquistThe Indepentarian

I’m teach a six-week masters seminar called “the Ethics of Universal Basic Income” (UBI) at the University of Freiburg, over six Fridays, January 7 – February 11, 2022. If you’d like to follow along, I’ll post the lectures on YouTube […]

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Property and the Power to Say No: My new old book manuscript

January 1, 2022January 18, 2025 Karl WiderquistThe Indepentarian

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This article announces the posting of an early draft of a manuscript that was later published in different forms under different titles.            An early version of my manuscript, Property and the Power to Say No: Five Arguments […]

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Functional Finance and Universal Basic Income

December 6, 2021December 15, 2021 Karl WiderquistThe Indepentarian

            “Functional finance” is a “heterodox” or “nonmainstream” economic theory that was originally developed by Abba Lerner in the 1940s. It’s best known today in one specific form of it called Modern Monetary Theory (MMT).             In this form, functional […]

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Enormous Increase in Support for UBI Over the Last 10 Years, Polls Indicate

November 4, 2021January 8, 2022 Karl WiderquistThe Indepentarian

Two polls conducted in 2021 both found that a substantial majority of Americans now support Universal Basic Income (UBI) or some form of Guaranteed Income. One survey, conducted by Data for Progress, found that 55% of Americans support UBI while […]

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The Essential Reason I Support UBI

July 29, 2021December 17, 2021 Karl WiderquistOpinion, The Indepentarian

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This article is a draft of the first chapter of the book I’m working on: Universal Basic Income: Essential Knowledge. It can also be thought of as a reply to Bitch Bastardly’s guest article from last week. Comments […]

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A Simple Solution to End the Labor Shortage in Five Minutes

July 16, 2021December 30, 2021 Karl WiderquistOpinion, The Indepentarian

By Guest Blogger, Bitch Bastardly Workers aren’t working for the wages we’re offering as much as they used to. Five million fewer Americans are working now than were working in June of 2019. That’s 3.33% of the U.S. labor force—a […]

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