Joseph Charlier

Joseph Charlier (20 June 1816 – 6 December 1896) was a Belgian self-described jurist, writer, accountant, and merchant.

According to John Stuart Mill, Fourierism required that "in the distribution, a certain minimum is first assigned for the subsistence of every member of the community, whether capable or not of labour."

Considérant, in some of his writings, suggested that society guarantee a right to work in order to compensate them for denying equal access to natural resources.

He rejected "the right to assistance", a solution addressing effects rather than the cause, and the "right to work/organization of labor" which he expected to result in an extension of state control.

Instead, Charlier proposed a scheme with a basic income paid unconditionally to every member of society, regardless of need or ability to work.