Four Steps to a Rational Society

Four Steps to a Rational Society

    What does the obligation of the individual to society? What is the obligation of society to the individual?  In order to determine what a rational structure for a society might be, one must first ask what the function of that society is. In a democracy it seems clear that that function is to provide for the welfare of its members. When a society fails to provide the necessities of life for a member, that member is no longer capable of participating in the society. Thus food, shelter, clothing and health, both physical and mental are obligations of society.  Further when the society fulfills that obligation it seems only reasonable that the individual owes service of some form to that society.
    These conclusions lead to the first two of the four steps to a rational society:
1) UBI - Universal Basic Income (Guaranteed Income)
    The simplest way for a society to meet it's obligation of providing for the welfare of its members on an individual basis is what I originally called a guaranteed national income and has now come to be called "Universal Basic Income". This is a rational approach to equality under the law.
2) USvc - Universal Service (a universal draft)
    Any citizen not willing to provide service to the society in which they live is not worthy of that society. The mechanisms for providing that service under law must be, of necessity, of some complexity. However as a first pass it seems to this author that, as the working life of an adult is approximately 50 years, a draft for all citizens of 5 years service (10%h of adult working life) is not unreasonable.
    How then may the funds necessary to support step 1) and other public works be raised in an equitable? This leads to the second two steps:
3) Transaction Tax - a tax on all public exchanges of goods and services to the exclusion of all other taxes
    Providing the extensive funds necessary to finance UBI may best be achieved by a transaction tax in the absence of all other forms of taxation. The society provides the means for the transition to take place so ethical grounds for its taxation are established. The current system of taxation is so grossly unfair that it is laughable. The middle class experiences higher, & higher tax rates, while trillion dollar corporations use tax shelters to avoid paying. In the U.S. approximately 5 billion dollars in transactions occur every day. A 10% tax on these transitions would provide enough in a single day to yield over a thousand dollars for every U.S. citizen. Further, this would, in all likely-hood, result in a bureaucracy  greatly reduced from the current kludge. An old rule in design is "KISS: keep it simple, stupid." Simple is fairer.
4) Tax Use Choice - implementation of the citizen's right to determine how  his taxes are used.
    In today's society, an option that has never before been available is available: the choice of which public works (aside from the given UBI) to which the citizen's tax dollars are spent. The use of computers makes this possible. Every citizen should be able to say where their tax dollars are put to work. As an example, I am a proponent of space exploration. Many I know are not. I should be able to put my tax dollars into this public work while my neighbor, who supports better street lightening (which I think superfluous) puts their money into the lighting.
    Obviously, there are details to be worked out here should such a utopian scheme ever be adopted. Let me warn here that adoption of a 1)UBI without some form of 2)universal service can not work and I would oppose it. Today's political realities may prevent such a scheme from being adopted especially with regard to step 3) transition tax.  I am not holding my breath. . Further, there would be many technological challenges to implementing 4)a tax use choice though they are tech implementation problems, not theoretical limitations.
     Perfection is a goal that is likely unattainable practically yet should be the goal towards which we strive. I hope we have the wisdom to continue to do so.