CONCEPT
Gorzian Basic Income
Gorz's version of guaranteed income as the economic infrastructure of autonomy — distinct from techno-libertarian proposals by its insistence that material security must come with democratic control, not as charity from those who own the machines.
For Gorz, guaranteed basic income was not a welfare payment for the displaced but a universal right that decoupled livelihood from employment and provided the material foundation — sufficient income, healthcare, housing — that made it possible to refuse heteronomous labor without facing destitution. The distinction from techno-libertarian versions is crucial. The Silicon Valley proposals treat basic income as a palliative smoothing the transition to full automation while leaving structures of ownership untouched. Gorz's version redistributes power alongside income: the guaranteed income is the collective claim of society on the surplus generated by accumulated knowledge and labor, not charity from those who happen to control the AI infrastructure.
In The You On AI Field Guide
The techno-libertarian version of basic income, Gorz would argue, accepts the concentration of productive power in the hands of AI infrastructure owners and proposes payments sufficient to prevent destitution but not sufficient to provide genuine autonomy. This version crystallizes a new form