Since Daniel Larimer first proposed the idea of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) there has been much discussion around the topic, but while UBI proposes to provide people with a basic income, Larimer has said that what he proposes is “not basic” and is “not income”.
What Dan Larimer appears to be speaking about is something very different and is more about resources than about providing a basic level of sustenance.
This is why he recently suggested it be rebranded to Universe Resource Inheritance (URI) to help clear the confusion.
But why do we need to talk about these resources and why are they so important? The answer is simple.
Nobody should have the right to unilaterally claim the Earth’s resources like oceans, forests, minerals and land, as well as all the other forms of abundance the earth holds that have been unjustly appropriated.
An increasingly smaller number of wealthy individuals and many of the more powerful governments usurp this abundance, leaving no riches for the rest of people, this is why Dan Larimer says: “no one has right to bind future generations to wealth allocation of past conquests”.
Larimer expresses that “property rights are a matter of negotiation between equal parties” and “if past and future generations could negotiate in good faith then the property would only be lent to each generation”.
It is important to note that Larimer is a libertarian who adheres to the basic principles of this philosophy, such as non-violence, liberty, and property rights.
Libertarians tend to challenge the cult of the omnipotent state and defend the rights and sovereignty of the individual. Believing the force used by governments to establish order is unacceptable and violates liberty through its authoritarian power. And while governments use force to control peoples lives and tax the fruits of their labour, libertarian principles state that only individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives and property.
Many libertarians view themselves as voluntarists in their interactions with exchanging goods and services, etc.
They believe voluntary means should be applied to all interactions, to include dispute resolution and law enforcement.
Voluntaryism and the free market competition, in their view, is the baseline of all interactions, and the sole driving force of a just system.
In the current system where governments have near complete power over people, the land is not owned but, rather rented from the government because as Dan Larimer says: “if you pay property tax you don’t own it”.
People are forced to pay taxes also on income and other property, such as automobiles, which fall under the scope of wealth tax.
If one steps back, the paradox becomes easily evident. People paying taxes on resources that have been unrightfully taken by those assuming the authority to rule over, even ownership of stated resources.
What is the EOS URI
Dan recently proposed the creation of a URI, funded by a 5% inflation of all forms of money, stocks and real estate property to be distributed evenly amongst uniquely identified participants.
This proposed fund, could in Larimer’s view, “dismantle large institutions that cannot sustain 5% growth”.
And, though it is yet unclear as to how this could be modelled on the EOS network, Larimer ensures that “EOS has the broadest possible distribution”.
While Daniel Larimer is saying that this URI would balance political control, he also adds that “strict adherence to first principles” is needed and “if people focus on specific results rather than process it will be corrupted”.
Larimer is also a realist, and in his words, for URI to be successful “only solution is education and spiritual awakening” because people need to understand that the system they live in is based on false power and widespread corruption.
He sees that while the labour market is undergoing continued automation, which could result in many lost jobs, doing nothing would most likely result in war or segregated communities.
Daniel Larimer, on the other hand, posits a peace treaty between the ruling class and the poor. He believes that URI can make this possible.
However, radical changes like this one are not simple to implement on a global scale.
This is why Larimer is looking at ways he can apply it within a smaller community like EOS and possibly redistribute the 4% inflation to unique individuals being EOS token holders.
This is, of course still speculation at this time, though Daniel. Larimer continues to hint within telegram groups he posts in periodically.
He continues to emphasise that even “EOS” URI is not a basic income, and “it is not about needs or deserves”, nor “about benefits”, nor “about feeding the poor”, but rather about creating “equal opportunity”, “fair negotiations” between generations, and adhering to first principles.
These together with the widest EOS adoption seems to be what Dan Larimer and many other feels is the easiest way to obtain this goal.
Many people are worried about the abuse by people who might create many accounts to game the system, but Larimer says he has solved the issue of identifying a unique user.
In his words: “I wouldn’t design a system I thought would be subject to mass abuse. Selling your ID will not be possible”.
The problem of multiple accounts is the biggest obvious obstacle to URI, although with Dan’s yet to be revealed identity system, which is purported to include some of the best security measures available, perhaps this won’t be a problem anymore?
Larimer has stated that it will be in everyone’s “interest to identify fraud and prune the fake IDs and ban the real ID behind them”.
The goal of an efficient system is to make scam cases rare and difficult to perform. In Daniel Larimer’s words: “If we find a scammer which manages to produce a fake ID, we can remove them”.
A possible solution could be the use of URI as an insurance in case some problems arise and possibly a set of DApp layer arbitrators for dispute resolution operating in a free market system. Much is yet to be revealed.
Some people think that EOS URI would be used by many as free EOS to spend. Others believe that adoption and the network growth is what matters most. What is relatively certain is that as the EOS ecosystem widens, and other fiat-less solutions arise, we should see more people using more cryptographic tokens.
This is one of the steps to what Dan Larimer sees as a self-balancing system because in his words “if the masses consume wealth faster than it is produced then UBI (URI) value falls. Eventually, UBI (URI) falls below most peoples desired standards and they start producing”.
URI can be used by users in whatever way they want and no one should be able to tell them what to do with it because it’s their “share of the fair inheritance of the current generations right to universe resources”.
The universe resources are our inheritance, currently controlled by those who get to use them first, but people have the ability to regain these rights, and Daniel Larimer claims he knows how to do it.
He says: “Get everyone on EOS UBI… then vote to make it new national currency” and he adds that sticking to his first principles of ANCAP (anarcho-capitalists) is what defines an automatic success. The principles he’s talking about are non-violence and voluntary consent.
