Revista (PDF) - Universidade do Minho

THE CASE FOR STAKEHOLDING 225
ship. Instead, he will reflect on the ways he cheated, and was cheated,
in the process of turning his basic income into a capital grant.
The resulting demoralization is a matter of the first importance. I
have been presenting only one side of the case for stakeholding –
emphasizing its function as a major new vehicle for the exercise of real
freedom. But the initiative also discharges a second major function.
It will serve as the institutional focus for a dynamic culture of citizenship.
From their earliest days, children will learn that stakeholding
is part of their birthright as citizens: «When you grow up, you won’t be
casually left at the mercy of the market or the arbitrary will of wealthy
friends and relations (if you have any). You will confront your future
under economic conditions worthy of a citizen of a free society.»
Parents and schools will continually urge their charges to use their
freedom in a responsible fashion, and as the stakeholding period
draws near, each man and woman will be enmeshed in an ongoing
and multilayered conversation about their stakes: «Did you hear how
Jane spent her first payment $20,000 – what a fool! If she keeps this
up, she’ll never make anything of her life!» Stakeholding will provoke
millions of such conversations – and they will forge a cultural bond
that will make stakeholders’ common citizenship into a central reality
of social life. As they grow older, citizens will forever be returning to
their youthful days, and reflect on their choices, and what has become
of them.
The dynamics of basic income would be different. Even if payments
begin on the eagerly-awaited twenty-first birthday, the stream
of small checks would not create a proud culture of free citizenship.
Stakeholding creates a focal point at age 21 for young citizens and
their elders alike, dramatizing the importance of the rise to maturity.
Basic income makes its impact gradually and incrementally, adding
a few thousand to the annual budget. Those sums would make a
difference in day-to-day life, especially at the bottom of the income
distribution. There is much to be said for replacing grudging handouts
with a dignified income entitlement. But the power of stakeholding
reaches well up the economic ladder, and offers all an opportunity to
take their life-shaping decisions seriously.
Of course, the creation of this new form of citizen inheritance
won’t be cheap. Using conservative assumptions, the annual cost of
stakeholding in America would be about $255 billion – a little less than
country spends on national defense. But the pursuit of equal opportunity
is no less fundamental than the pursuit of national defense.
Indeed, the two are ultimately intertwined: If the younger generation