One of the more “collectivist” economic heresies that I’m interested in is the notion of a “basic minimum.” As expressed by the followers of Fourier, and people like Joseph Charlier, it was one of the long list of intrusive measures that Proudhon hoped to avoid through the establishment of the Bank of the People. And I appreciate that sentiment, but I am also tempted by Pierre Leroux’s assertion that a basic subsistence is a basic right. In any event, in response to one of those constant “what would a mutualist do?” questions on Facebook, I sketched just a bit of how a mutualist minimum might work.
