Inner-City Justice: Universal Basic Income, Capabilities, and Inner-City Black Men
Open AccessThis paper defends a novel conception of the Universal Basic Income over the present system of mean-tested welfare, paying careful attention to considerations of justice for inner-city black men. First, the present situation for inner-city black men is examined; outlining both the history of welfare reform and the shift from a manufacturing job market to a service economy within inner-cities. What follows is a discussion of societal conceptions of justice and a portrait of a minimally just society. This minimally just society is one which empowers all citizens to pursue their own conception of a good life by granting access to what Martha Nussbaum refers to as Central Capabilities. After I defend the capabilities approach of justice and its minimum requirement, I will proceed to demonstrate how the present condition of inner-city black men prevents flourishing by denying several of these Central Capabilities. I will then evaluate different methods of government policy by their inability to ensure capabilities for inner-city black men. Taking in all present policy actions, we plainly conclude that the best possible approach for government action is to employ a universal basic income. Finally, I will demonstrate how the universal basic income will serve as an improvement in the actual lives of inner-city black men, drawing from historical accounts of similar policies in other societies.
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