Introduction
In the modern world, economics is all about distributing labor and wealth to consider the welfare of others. The concept that an economy will thrive in an environment where all economic players are treated well brought about economic justice. To achieve economic justice and eliminate the inequality created by the pure capitalists, the economy should be designed to create equal chances for all. Every person can be earning a decent income and spent it hence stimulating the economy by allowing free circulation of capital. This paper will discuss how the government should guarantee all citizens an income drawn from the taxes it collects; the income should be regardless of the amount of input and the success of their work. Based on the ideas, the paper will justify it by citing a book that address economic justice through taxation and other measures that I have learned in this course.
Economic Justice and Capitalism
The idea of economic justice is aimed at creating equal chances for all market players so that they have a competitive environment. In pure capitalism, the market is left to decide on distributing wealth and labor across the market. However, pure capitalism is dangerous to an economy that is keen on achieving economic justice. It leads to a great disparity in wealth distribution and inequality amongst the capital holders and those offering labor. This is contrary to the principle of capitalism, which is aimed at making everyone better. Although wealth is distributed across the market, most of the wealth is controlled by capital holders, otherwise known as capitalists who in my opinion operate on the ideology of everybody for themselves where everyone struggles to get to the top no matter the means.
Ways of Achieving Economic Justice
There are a number of ways a government can create equal opportunities for citizens one of them being the use progressive taxation where the tax system is arranged in such a way that the tax increases as one’s salary increases. Therefore, those who earn a higher income pay more taxes while those who earn low incomes pay are subjected to lower tax percentages and with this method the government is able to deal with the issue of income inequality and distributing capital to the market.
Another way the government can achieve economic justice is by protecting workers from exploitation by the various employers. Exploitation of workers cause an imbalance in the economy whereby the outcomes of an economy are also affected because some workers are paid less and some more even when they are working in the same sector with similar working conditions. The problem can be solved by introduction of a minimum wage which sets a limit on the amount of salary a worker in a given sector is paid, this would allow workers to chose where they can work best because the job marker will be level thus making the economy stable for everyone.
Any move to put in place effective environmental policies, revamping and opening up of the social facilities, restructuring the failing economy, and strengthening the available inadequate infrastructure will require government support which can only be achieved through increased government revenue (Blais, 2013). This is most cases achieved through taxation; taxes play an important role in achieving economic equality by closing the rift between the low-income citizens and the high-income citizens.
Tax is what the government collects from its citizens after they have earned a salary or from income generated legally, either through the sale of goods and services or any other economic activity. Tax regulations vary from country to country depending on the government’s policies, but I will use Canada for the sake of this paper. Taxation is a significant bone of contention in most economic discussions because it cuts across all sectors of the economy. Another bone of contention is the assurance of income distribution to all citizens.
To understand why the government opts to use the income distribution approach that then leads to basic income plans, one has to understand why the government imposes taxes in the first place. The tax collection plans are made so that everyone will pay a tax in one way or the other this can be through income tax, value-added tax on goods, government services levies. In most cases, the citizens tend to complain about taxation, oblivious that taxes facilitate the processes that bring income; taxation also adds to social and economic values. Every citizen has to fulfill their tax obligations.
Growing up, I overheard adults complain of senior citizens of the several taxes they will have to pay at the end of every month, but I could not really feel the impact, but later on, when I received my first pay after landing my first job, I was furious after I realize the government had taken a share of the pay which was hard-earned but later on I realized the money went to fund community facilities I have been using that from the free healthcare, road construction and maintenance, free schools and many more. Through the tax, citizens pay that the government creates a conducive environment for trade and work. Despite the government giving citizens value for their money by developing the country, few citizens and companies tend to evade the taxes. Statistically, 1% of the giant corporations in Canada have been discovered to be notorious for evading taxes.
Wealth Distribution
To ensure every citizen receives an income regardless of their tax brackets and incomes, the government resorted to registering citizens who live below the poverty line and gives them an income to enable them to live a dignified life and enjoy economic justice. Cognitive of the fact that citizens below the poverty line should benefit from the basic income believe that they are given opportunities to earn income and not receive free cash transfers that are not taxed and, therefore, make them passive citizens nation-building.
Citizens below the poverty line pay little or no tax at all while they are the ones who benefit from government aid inform of free education, free healthcare, and food stamps. This is in my opinion, goes against the idea of economic justice because there is no equality in terms of paying taxes while the benefits from taxes are for the whole society; this burdens the taxpaying citizens and derails the development of the nation. Suppose such initiatives are not properly analyzed, and the government ascertains the those who receive the basic income are not lazy but are instead victims of pure capitalism. In that case, the population will be reluctant to earn an income and pay tax.
Principles of Taxation
When we use taxes, taxation is treated as a market transaction by the benefit principle. The efficiency principle acts to shape the market results to reduce fluctuation. Finally, the ability to pay principle examines the market distribution and gives information on who is likely to pay the taxes. From the principles, none changes the wealth distribution before taxes, and therefore a different approach needs to be used. Have some corporations not paying taxes and the government giving those below the poverty-free basic income takes the burden to the hardworking group who now have the burden of funding government operations and supporting the poor. This is why I support the government giving incentives to businesses started by jobless citizens to get them out of poverty and bring them to the tax-paying group of citizens.
Blais suggested that the government can chose to charge user fees for services they offer to the public. The government can charge the total cost or give the service at a subsidized price to the users; this approach creates equality. Everyone pays for only the amount they use and minimizes wasteful consumption. When everyone is held responsible for their expenditure, then equality is achieved, and this is supported by the proponents of the principle of pay, as you use like me.
Conclusion
I, therefore, conclude that the thesis statement that the government should guarantee all citizens an income drawn from the taxes it collects a basic income should be regardless of the amount of input and the success of their work is not justified as it burdens the hardworking citizens by making them fund government operations as well as the less privileged in the country. Therefore, the government should seek other forms of economic justice like charging user fees on government-sponsored public facilities. The government should also improve its tax collection mechanisms to ensure no individual or corporate evades paying their tax. Using the redistribution policy will not help achieve a fair distribution of wealth and labor but will instead widen the gap between the have and the have nots, with the latter always staying with open arms expecting free basic income from the government.
Work Cited
Blais, François. “Taxation, Fees and Social Justice.” OpenEdition Books, edited by Axel Gosseries and Philippe Vanderborght, Presses universitaires de Louvain, 2013, pp. 87–92. Web.