More’s guaranteed provision was paid in kind, not in money

Evidence

Contemporary translations usually render the expression “proventus vitae” as “adequate income.” In later passages, however, More signals that his handout would be paid in kind rather than in money (proventus in medieval Latin referring to produce or growth, not to moneyed handouts). … Two aspects sharply separate More’s proposal from today’s basic income proposals: their distribution in kind, and their connection to common landownership. — Anton Jäger and Daniel Zamora Vargas, Welfare for Markets, 70

Categorization

• CANDY: The word ‘proventus’ literally meant produce/crops, not money — a neat philological one-liner for debunking the claim that Thomas More invented UBI.
• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
• XREF: connects to: Most basic income histories anachronistically assume past thinkers shared present questions — Anton Jäger and Daniel Zamora Vargas, Welfare for Markets: A Global History…, 51; Basic income is uniquely defined by being monetary rather than in-kind — Anton Jäger and Daniel Zamora Vargas, Welfare for Markets: A Global History…, 52; Emancipation was granted as privileged payment, not as guaranteed right. (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Emancipation was granted as privileged payment, not as guaranteed right. #complicates (0.80)
• Grant-holders profited by collecting full tax but paying only a tithe #expands (0.80)
• Free products, not wages, often constitute influencer compensation #exemplifies (0.72)