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''Agrarian Justice'' is the title of a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine and published in 1797, which proposed that those who possess cultivated land owe the community a ground rent,〔Agrarian Justice, Wikisource edition, paragraph 12〕 and that this justifies an estate tax to fund universal old-age and disability pensions, as well as a fixed sum to be paid to all citizens upon reaching maturity. It was written in the winter of 1795–96, but remained unpublished for a year, Paine being undecided whether or not it would be best to wait until the end of the ongoing war with France before publishing. However, having read a sermon by Richard Watson, the Bishop of Llandaff, which discussed the "Wisdom ... of God, in having made both Rich and Poor", he felt the need to publish, under the argument that "rich" and "poor" were arbitrary divisions, not divinely created ones.〔Author's preface. Penguin edition, pp. 80–1.〕 ==Proposed system== In response to the private sale of royal (or common) lands, Paine proposed a detailed plan to tax land owners once per generation to pay for the needs of those who have no land. This can be considered a precursor of the modern idea of citizen's income or basic income. The money would be raised by taxing all direct inheritances at 10%, and "indirect" inheritances – those not going to close relations – at a somewhat higher rate; this would, he estimated, raise around £5,700,000 per year in England.〔Penguin edition, pp. 92–3.〕 Around two-thirds of the fund would be spent on pension payments of £10 per year to every person over the age of fifty, which Paine had taken as his average adult life expectancy. Most of the remainder would be used to make fixed payments of £15 to every man and woman on reaching the age of twenty-one, legal majority. "A one-time stipend of 15 pounds sterling would be paid to each citizen upon attaining age 21, to give them a start in life." The small remainder of the money raised still un-used would be used for paying pensions to "the lame and blind".〔Penguin edition, pp. 93–5.〕 For context, the average weekly wage of an agricultural labourer was around 9 shillings, which would mean an annual income of about £23 for an able-bodied man working throughout the year.〔Figures are an annual average for 1795. Taken from tables in Bowley (1898), p. 706〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Agrarian Justice」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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