Yesterday I quoted a Dutch newspaper that was advocating a basic income for everyone.

Imagine what the anti-tax crowd would make of this! Communism! It is as likely to happen as a government run by Epicureans. I’m sure the early communists had a similar idea, but to force it through they felt constrained to collectivize agriculture, continue Tsarist repression, and to set up gulags in Siberia to deal with the people who disagreed. For such an idea to work you have to have a consensus about mutual cooperation in society, agreement on the role of government, a willingness on the part of the wealthy to support the system, and, probably, a homogenous population. A living minimum wage is more attainable, and it is this that we should aim at. Nobody should work full time and not be able to pay for food, clothing and a roof over their heads. Surely, these basic human requirements are the building blocks of the pleasant life, as advocated by Epicurus.