Joseph Charlier, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Joseph Charlier

Belgian accountnat, jurist, merchant and writer

Date of Birth: 20-Jun-1816

Place of Birth: Brussels metropolitan area, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium

Date of Death: 06-Dec-1896

Profession: writer, economist, merchant, accountant

Nationality: Belgium

Zodiac Sign: Gemini


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About Joseph Charlier

  • Joseph Charlier (20 June 1816 – 6 December 1896) was a Belgian self-described jurist, writer, accountant, and merchant.
  • He was one of the earliest proponents of a citizen's income or guaranteed minimum income, preceding even the "state bonus" scheme published by British Dennis Milner (1892–1956) in 1920. Charlier was influenced by Charles Fourier.
  • According to John Stuart Mill, Fourierism required that "in the distribution, a certain minimum is first assigned for the subsistence of every member of the community, whether capable or not of labour." Fourier and his foremost disciple Victor Prosper ConsidĂ©rant criticized civilization for failing to provide a minimum to the poor, but feared widespread idleness and a collapsing civilization if workers previously depending on "repugnant" labor for income had a choice.
  • ConsidĂ©rant, in some of his writings, suggested that society guarantee a right to work in order to compensate them for denying equal access to natural resources.
  • ("La condition sine quâ non-pour la LĂ©gitimitĂ© de la PropriĂ©tĂ© est donc que la SociĂ©tĂ© reconnaisse au ProlĂ©taire le droit au travail et qu’elle lui assure au moins autant de moyens de subsistance, pour un exercice d’activitĂ© donnĂ©, que cet exercice eĂ»t pu lui en procurer dans l’État primitif.") Charlier agreed with Fourierism that the central problem was the improvement of the condition of the disinherited classes ("amĂ©lioration du sort des classes dĂ©shĂ©ritĂ©es").
  • He rejected "the right to assistance", a solution addressing effects rather than the cause, and the "right to work/organization of labor" which he expected to result in an extension of state control.
  • Instead, Charlier proposed a scheme with a basic income paid unconditionally to every member of society, regardless of need or ability to work. In 1896 at age 80, Charlier died at Brussels where he was born.

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