The belief in reciprocity (the belief that when you take, you should give back) causes big problems for my dog. She gets food and shelter from us. But she can’t understand that all we want in return is for her to hang out with us. She wants a job. So, she’s taken it on herself to protect my wife and her territory. She growls, barks, and lunges at dogs she perceives as a threat. She’s always on the lookout. She shows obvious signs of stress. She and my wife and I would be so much happier if there was some way to make her understand that she doesn’t need to do anything to “earn” her keep. We’ve taken her into our house to be our friend. We have therefore, taken on the responsibility to make sure she’s happy and her needs are met.
It’s not that the principle of reciprocity is wrong, but she can’t see the very complex way that it is fulfilled. Humans have taken the natural environment. made it impossible for dogs to live on their own in nature. The only way humans can make a reciprocal payment to dogs for taking resources is to make sure their needs are met in some other way. Reciprocity is fulfilled without our dog having to perform any job at all.
There could be a lesson here for the Basic Income debate. Workers of the world, relax. You’ve earned an unconditional payment because wealthy people took ownership of the world’s resources and all the property we make out of them; reciprocity demands they owe you compensation.
Won’t people receiving the Basic Income feel the need to give back like my dog does even if the payment is already reciprocal? Most of them probably will. But people are smarter than my dog. They can figure out ways to contribute, and unlike propertyless people today, they’ll have the resources they need to get started.