UBI Reparations Neg - DDI 2023 BK

Reparations Case Neg (TT)
Case:
1NC Shell
White Guilt
Monetary Reparations are not about acknowledging or undoing the injustice done to black people: it’s about reducing the guilt of liberal whites and is an ultimately narcissistic goal. Even if the government tried to pay this debt back, it would only be within the framework of white benevolence.
Caflisch ’20 [Jane Caflisch, Ph.D., is a candidate at the NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, where she is a member of the Committee for Ethnicity, Race, Culture, Class and Language (CERCCL), ForAll, and the Intersectional Task Force. She is a former fellow of the American Psychoanalytic Association and of the Melanie Klein Trust, has written and presented on issues related to sexuality, gender, race, and whiteness, and is in private practice in New York. Caflisch, Jane. When Reparation Is Felt to Be Impossible”: Persecutory Guilt and Breakdowns in Thinking and Dialogue about Race, www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10481885.2020.1797402. Accessed 14 July 2023.]
From the first perspective, I have been arguing for the importance of recognizing that some of the harms caused by racism and white supremacy are, in fact, irreparable; that some of the privileges we hold as white people are “built on crime” in an indelible way; and that the guilt, and even the moments of hopelessness, that this reality can evoke for liberal white people is something we need to learn to sit with, and bear, without looking for the relief of reparation to make it go away. This stance is captured evocatively in an exchange from Claudia Rankine’s play The White Card (2019). In it, a liberal, white male art collector, deeply invested in being perceived as a “good” white person on the side of racial justice, but hesitant to look at the ways in which he is also implicated in racial oppression, is speaking with a Black female artist whose work he wants to acquire. As she urges him to recognize his own participation in the white supremacist system he critiques without rushing to cast himself as a white savior, he laments: “That is so hopeless.” “Go further into that hopelessness,” she replies, “and then we can begin to really see each other” (p. 87). Sometimes trying to move immediately to reparation, in other words, can cause us to avoid the kind of internal reckoning and interpersonal understanding that we need in order to engage, deeply, with the realities of racial injustice and our role in it. The second perspective, which I see as complementary, is that some of the harms of racism may seem irreparable not because they are, but because of how we relate, as white people, to what reparation is and should be, which in turn deeply affects how we relate to racial guilt. As liberal white people, we may imagine reparation not in the sense Klein intended, which involves an acknowledgment of loss and of our own limits; but instead as a fantasy of omnipotence and erasure known in Kleinian theory as “manic reparation” (Klein, 1935, 1940; Mitchell, 2000; Sodre, 2015). In other words, a desire “to repair the object in such a way that guilt and loss are never experienced” (Segal, 1973, p. 95). This manic approach to racial reparation – described by philosopher Shannon Sullivan (2014) as a “desire to pay off and thus sever (our) connections with white history” (p. 70), and by Suchet (2017) as a wish to be “a different kind of white … expunged of some of the guilt and shame of whiteness” (p. 50) – is ultimately more about establishing our own exceptionalism than about meaningful repair. The problem, however, isn’t only that thinking about reparation in this way – as something cathartic that will erase what we owe and restore ourselves to an idealized state of “goodness,” debtless and clean – is essentially a narcissistic goal, though I believe it is. The problem is also that it is an impossible goal.
Backlash turn
Reparations cause backlash across the country, TURNS their inequality impacts
Linker 19 Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. https://theweek.com/articles/828360/fear-reparations-backlash--- hh
The moral case for reparations may be strong, but the political and cultural consequences of enacting the policy are likely to be extremely high. Far from serving as a moment of moral reckoning and healing for the country, as its advocates contend, it would inspire a severe backlash that would inflame tensions on both sides of the color line — and set the stage for future calls from other groups for acts of public restitution for past injustices. It's a recipe for greatly intensified civic anger and resentment. As I argued when he first published his essay, Coates' case for reparations was important and compelling — but also wrong-headed. Coates asserted that American patriotism is a fraud. In his words, a form of American national pride that "proudly claim[s] the veteran and disown[s] the slaveholder," and that celebrates "freedom and democracy while forgetting America's origins in a slavery economy," is "patriotism à la carte." As he put it in one of the essay's most unforgettable lines, "To ignore the fact that one of the oldest republics in the world was erected on a foundation of white supremacy ... is to cover the sin of national plunder with the sin of national lying." In Coates' view — one endorsed by Brooks in his recent column — the only way for the United States to purify its patriotism and truly expiate its racial sins is for it to fully own, accept, and atone for them by enacting a policy of reparations. That might sound good in theory, but it isn't at all the way it's likely to work in practice. White Americans love to think well of themselves and the country — loving the United States not just because it is ours but even more so because they believe the country is good in itself, intrinsically worthy or deserving of love. Debating and attempting to enact a policy of reparations would force white Americans to confront their country's longstanding and persistent racism and place that reckoning at the core of how they view the country's history and themselves. That is quite likely to spark a defensive political, social, and cultural reaction.
Public surveys and statements prove majority of Non-Black Americans oppose reparations --- PROVES backlash
Ludden 23 [Jennifer Ludden covers economic inequality, exploring systemic disparities in housing, food insecurity and wealth. She seeks to explain the growing gap between socio-economic groups, and government policies to try and change it. She's a graduate of Syracuse University with degrees in television, radio, and film production and in English---hh].
When Tatishe Nteta began polling about it several years ago he expected money would be the biggest issue. Or perhaps the workability of such a complex undertaking. It turns out those are the smallest concerns among the two-thirds of Americans who say they're against cash payments to the descendants of slaves. "A plurality of Americans," Nteta says, "don't believe the descendants of slaves deserve reparations." The political science professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, plans more research to get at exactly why people think that. The other most common reasons opponents cite is that it's "impossible to place a monetary value on the impact of slavery" and "African Americans are treated equally in society today." Nteta, and also the Pew Research Center, find about three-quarters or more of white adults oppose reparations, and so do a majority of Latinos and Asian Americans. A large majority of Black Americans support them. There's also more support among younger people and a sharp political divide, with overwhelming opposition from Republicans and conservatives. On a recent sunny day on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., it was not hard to find reparations opponents willing to share their reasoning. "You can't take what we know now and try to superimpose yourself onto 150 years ago," says Jeff Bernauer, visiting from Huntsville, Alabama. He calls racism a sin and says of course slavery was wrong. But to try and make amends at this point makes no sense. "The generation that would be paying for it have nothing to do with what was done in the past," he says. "And then you're paying people that have nothing to do with it in the past." Terry Keuhn of upstate New York agrees, and does not like the idea of a targeted program that would only help some people. "We're all immigrants at some point, whether it was voluntary or forced," she says. "And nobody needs a handout anymore. Everybody, you know, pulls themselves up by their own bootstraps and works for a living and makes their way in this world."
Conservative republican opinions on Reparations proves political opposition
Williams 21 Armstrong Williams is an American political commentator, entrepreneur, author. He’s a republican who went to South Carolina State University. https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/540812-slavery-reparations-are-a-divisive-waste-of-time/ ---HH
In fact, the results of a recent Associated Press-NORC poll indicated 74 percent of Black Americans now favor reparations payments, while 85 percent of white Americans oppose them. The split is staggering. So how will that fulfill the pledge of President Biden and the Democrats to bring about unity in America? It is time to move forward from this ugly chapter in history and look to our future as Americans, which I believe is bright. Paying cash reparations using taxpayer funds is absurd. The practice would spark substantial blowback from white Americans who had nothing to do with the sins of their forefathers. How can all Americans in the 21st century be held financially responsible for the actions of a subset of Americans hundreds of years ago? The concept makes no sense from start to finish. The first slave ship arrived in Jamestown, Va., approximately 400 years ago. How does that make our white neighbors responsible for the reprehensible actions of greedy slavers centuries ago? Most Blacks today do not even know anyone who is even related to someone who was a slave. An apology for slavery might help the country move on, but adding a price tag to that apology would be sheer folly. How could anyone ever calculate a cost for the long-term effects of slavery? What criteria would be used to figure damage, who would determine the criteria and how would the money be distributed? Would individuals or families receive a one-time payout, or would reparations be distributed over time? Would the money be distributed based on need, or would everyone receive the same amount? How could the involved parties ever agree on a dollar amount for the societal effects of slavery?
White Flight Turn
Progressive taxes fail—the rich will just leave
Annie Lowrey 20, 10/27/20, staff writer at The Atlantic “If You Soak the Rich, Will They Leave?” The Atlantic, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/if-you-soak-rich-will-they-leave/616863/
States soaking the rich, or considering it, include New Jersey, which passed a “millionaire’s tax” this summer, taking an additional two percent of any earnings that exceed $1 million. California is contemplating a retroactive measure that would take an additional 3.5 percent of earnings above $5 million. New York, both state and city, is considering new measures that would hit the wealthiest of the wealthy to pay for schools, homeless shelters, and frontline medical services. Lawmakers in Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Oklahoma, Vermont, and Wisconsin have also proposed tax hikes on high earners.
In response, the wealthiest of the wealthy have broadcast a message: Pass the tax hikes and we’ll leave. The billionaire hedge-funder Ken Griffin has spent nearly $50 million—yes, you read that right—fighting Governor J. B. Pritzker’s progressive income-tax proposal in Illinois. If passed, it would mean “the continued exodus of families and businesses,” Griffin said in a statement. Any number of Silicon Valley investor types have threatened to flee to Nevada or Texas if California passes a wealth tax. President Donald Trump claimed recently that he relocated from New York to Florida because of high taxes. Some tax analysts are warning that raising taxes would not raise any additional revenue, precisely because the hikes would cause so many wealthy people to leave.
Offshoring, poor regulations, and tax havens allow huge tax evasion--- takeouts aff solvency
Oxfam International 23, a global organization that fights inequality to end poverty and injustice, 07-10-2023, "Inequality and poverty: the hidden costs of tax dodging," https://www.oxfam.org/en/inequality-and-poverty-hidden-costs-tax-dodging //MRK
Such extreme economic inequality is being fueled by an epidemic of tax evasion and avoidance that has reached an unprecedented scale. While millions across the world live in poverty, rich individuals and companies, exploiting the secrecy provided by tax havens, are continuing to dodge their taxes, depriving the poorest countries from being able to provide vital services.
The secret industry of tax evasion
Since 2014, a huge number of documents – including the Panama Papers and the Paradise Papers scandals – have been leaked by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) unveiling how tax evasion and avoidance have become standard business practice across the globe.
Through a complex and loosely regulated tax system, multinational companies and rich individuals actively seek to increase their profits by storing them offshore and avoiding paying taxes in their countries.
Tax havens are at the heart of this system. They allow massive amounts of wealth to flow untaxed and in secret, out of reach from tax authorities and regulators.
The winners: big corporations and super-rich people
The big winners are those at the top, the wealthy individuals and multinational companies who use their position and influence to capture economic gain for themselves and use economic structures to their benefit.
Those who should be paying the most tax instead maximize their profits in part by paying as little tax as possible. They do this by using tax havens or by making countries compete to provide tax breaks, exemptions and lower rates. And while some of the tax dodging practices are illegal, many exploit weaknesses in today’s tax system – without breaking any laws.
Conservatives cut welfare—they exploit a vague UBI in the absence of detailed policy--- this is supercharged by our vagueness arg
Juliana Uhuru Bidadanure 19, Department of Philosophy, Stanford University, “The Political Theory of Universal Basic Income,” Annual Review of Political Science, vol. 22, no. 1, 2019, pp. 481–501 //MRK
A number of features importantly vary from one UBI proposal to the next, in particular the funding source, the level of the payment, and the policy package that comes with it.
Most UBI proposals are funded by appeal to a variety of taxes—an income tax, a wealth tax, a consumption tax, financial transaction taxes, carbon taxes, or a combination of those (Widerquist et al. 2005, Widerquist 2017). The Alaskan Dividend fund epitomizes the alternative of a sovereign wealth fund. Under such a model, every resident becomes a shareholder who receives a yearly grant in cash. Like UBI, the dividend is individual, unconditional, universal, and regular, but it differs from most proposals in that it is funded through a non-redistributive mechanism.
The level of the payment also varies from one scheme to another. The “basic” in UBI simply refers to the fact that income from work comes to supplement basic income. One does not stop receiving UBI payments when receiving other forms of income; UBI is a base and other sources of income top it off. Most proponents argue that UBI should be set high enough for recipients to be free from desperate poverty even if they do not have any other sources of income. A $1,000 grant per individual is often taken as the exemplar in the United States. Other proponents of UBI consider that any amount, even low, would make an important difference to those worst off, and that the grant could then be expanded over time once citizens get accustomed to the proposal (Van Parijs & Vanderborght 2017). A UBI set at $500 per month or less is then proposed. UBI could also be set at the level that seems most economically sustainable—for instance, a quarter of GDP (Van Parijs & Vanderborght 2017). Unless otherwise stated, for simplicity's sake, this review uses a UBI grant of about $1,000 per month as a benchmark.
Another point of contention concerns the programs UBI would replace. This is highly contextual, since packages of provision of cash and in-kind goods vary vastly from one country to the next. But in general, UBI replaces programs that would become redundant under it: Someone who had been receiving $400 in food vouchers and cash benefits would now be receiving a $1,000 unconditional monthly payment instead. Other cash programs that are contributory, like some unemployment benefits, would remain untouched. On the conservative end of the political spectrum, UBI is sometimes proposed as a replacement for the delivery of other welfare goods, including health insurance programs like Medicare (Murray 2016). The vast majority of political theorists are found in the camp of those who see UBI as a further expansion and enhancement of the safety net—a complement to the necessary provision of welfare goods by the state. They concomitantly advocate for universal healthcare, a well-funded public education system, and affordable housing (White 2015). The broad view is that among the package of benefits provided by the state, it is imperative that a significant portion be in the form of unconditional cash to enable recipients to have the effective means to exercise their freedom.
2NC stuff
Wealth Tax Bad
Wealth tax bad – capital flight causes increased taxes
IBD ’19 [Investor’s Business Daily was founded in 1984 as a daily print publication and shifted to a digital-first approach in 2016 to provide our subscribers with the most up-to-the-minute data possible. In May of 2021, IBD began an exciting new chapter in its history when it officially joined the News Corp and Dow Jones family of companies. Alongside the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and MarketWatch, IBD now stands as an integral part of the go-to brand for investors seeking trusted news, insights and analysis. Investor’s Business Daily is the premier resource for investors who want to boost trading performance with industry-leading research and market insights. But more than that, IBD values continuous learning––because the market’s full of surprises, and there’s always something more we can learn, even as seasoned traders. Beyond that, we at IBD believe investing isn’t just about money––it’s the freedom you have when you’re financially secure. Driven by a passion for investing, we’ve made it our mission to help investors achieve financial freedom by giving them an edge in the market. 02/01/19, ‘Wealth Tax Fails The Test Around The World’, https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/wealth-tax-failure/, Investor’s Business Daily]
Worse, wealth taxes can have very bad effects. Take France. There, "A wealth tax imposed on assets over 1.3 million euros led to an exodus of taxpayers from the country. In 2016 alone, 12,000 millionaires left France, the highest outflow in the world." The year before, 10,000 millionaires left.
And it's been going on for years. As Simon Black of the Sovereign Man website noted, "In France, 513 wealthy households left the country every year for 35 years because they were tired of paying a wealth tax — taking an estimated $175 billion of assets with them." This, Black adds, has cost France some 400,000 jobs.
Even Sweden Ended Wealth Tax
This explains in part why France's Gilets-Jaunes are demonstrating. Their taxes go up as the wealthy leave. But that'

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