This Thread Makes Some Compelling Points About a Universal Basic Income and Building a Better Society for Us All

Imagine what you could do if you didn't have to worry about your basic needs.

Sophia

Published in Funny
23 Mar 2021

This Thread Makes Some Compelling Points About a Universal Basic Income and Building a Better Society for Us All

Every now and then, the idea of a Universal Basic Income starts to circulate in the policy sphere, but for many countries, it never really takes off. A Universal Basic Income essentially means that every adult receives a periodic payment to their account—no strings attached.

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Welfare payments are often means-tested or dependent on one's inability to work, but a Universal Basic Income is typically set above the poverty line. This means that everyone receives a sum of money, with no catch.

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Now think about it: what could you do if you didn't have to worry about rent or food? Implementing a Universal Basic Income shows us how we can envision a new, freer society.

This thread is a great explainer.

When discussing Universal Basic Income, inevitably the retort comes: "So you just want people to not have to work, is that it?" Accompanied by a smug smirk, expecting me to backpedal and hem and haw, say "Of course not, that's silly." Except...yes. Yes, I do. 1/11
— Lori Summers (@madlori) July 23, 2019

Having to work versus wanting to work are very different ideas.

People shouldn't HAVE to work. People should WANT to work. Sharing in the labor of building and maintaining a society because it benefits everyone should be desirable, not forced. It shouldn't be something we do because we'll die otherwise. 2/11
— Lori Summers (@madlori) July 23, 2019

Sidebar: it is also incredibly problematic that healthcare is tied to employment.

Imagine a society where survival didn't depend on a job. Imagine how that would alter the fabric of...everything. Imagine if you could leave a job without fearing the loss of income or health care. Imagine the power of the worker in that society. 3/11
— Lori Summers (@madlori) July 23, 2019

Workplaces would likely be better and safer because no one has to be there.

If a person could survive without a job, imagine what employers would be like. They'd have to treat their workers fairly, and make themselves attractive to entice workers. They'd have to offer a better option than other employers, and make people want to participate. 4/11
— Lori Summers (@madlori) July 23, 2019

Many people do want to work, and they will.

Places that have offered UBI have seen the results: most people do want to work. The people who choose not to are generally young parents, students, people with disabilities and the elderly. people have a desire to contribute, for our lives to have purpose and to be useful. 5/11
— Lori Summers (@madlori) July 23, 2019

Wealthy individuals already take advantage.

And before you say it, yes, some people will take advantage. That is true for absolutely everything ever. You think people don't take advantage of the economy we have? Like, say, the 1% who grow wealthier while their employees have to work three jobs and use food stamps? 6/11
— Lori Summers (@madlori) July 23, 2019

Many of us are trapped in low-paying, unsatisfying jobs because we have no other options.

They can only do that, by the way, because people are so terrified of losing a job and the destruction that would follow that they tolerate mistreatment, disempowerment, the destruction of their unions, healthcare, retirements and even their bodies to avoid it. 7/11
— Lori Summers (@madlori) July 23, 2019

Bosses are able to get away with so much because they know we have no other choice.

That would not be the case if everyone were guaranteed a baseline survival income. Your boss couldn't treat you like shit because he knows you can't leave. You CAN leave, and you will. 8/11
— Lori Summers (@madlori) July 23, 2019

Imagine having a motivation other than desperation...

What if desperation didn't motivate everything? Imagine the impact on health, relationships, parenting, well-being, crime, violence, progress. When you aren't desperately scrabbling for the rent, you can spare a neuron to contemplate long-term problems. 9/11
— Lori Summers (@madlori) July 23, 2019

Imagine what could happen if you didn't feel like you could lose everything in an instant.

Imagine a society where terror of destitution wasn't a constant thrum underneath everyone's existence. Imagine the creative works that society could produce. Imagine the children it could raise, the elderly it could care for. Imagine the inventions it could produce. 10/11
— Lori Summers (@madlori) July 23, 2019

Boom!

Now, imagine knowing all this and thinking "NOPE. We can't have all that, because someone I don't like might benefit from it. So to avoid that, the rest of you can all hang." And there you have modern conservative thinking. 11/11
— Lori Summers (@madlori) July 23, 2019

What kind of horrid 'I had to suffer, therefore I want others to' logic is that?

That's kind of the difference between progressives and conservatives in a nutshell. Progressives = I don't want others to suffer as I did, conservatives = I suffered, so everyone else should, too.
— Lori Summers (@madlori) July 24, 2019

For poor people, if you don't work, you don't eat.

Sure they do, but they do so for different reasons. Someone who is rich, or born from wealth, can more easily work because they want to, because it's interesting or fulfilling; not because if they don't they don't get to eat
— Lewis Upperton (@sineout) July 23, 2019

Likely, we will all feel happier and more fulfilled.

When people no longer have to work to survive, we can decide what work will make our lives feel full. Most people go through life doing something that doesn't bring them any joy, the feeling that you are wasting your life is so crushing. This kind of system alleviates that a bit
— ✨Ari✨Moon Fairy🌖🐇🌔 (@manifestedreams) July 24, 2019

There are plenty of ways to incentivize people to take the 'bad' jobs.

Couple thoughts:
1. UBI incentivizes employers to offer better perks. People who want those perks would do those jobs
2. Anyone who wants *more* than UBI is incentivized to do those jobs
— Dave DeLong (@davedelong) March 14, 2021

Imagine not feeling 'stuck.'

Everyone has been stuck in a job before. This is quintessential to the American worker experience. Imagine if instead of being “stuck” there, suddenly you were free to pursue better opportunities for you/your family/your community, to make new things or develop new ideas...
— Stacy Says🗽🥊 🦆🦖 (@TheMostStacy) July 25, 2019

People who have more freedom in their work are more productive and likely happier than someone who works a bad job because they have no other choice.

And I don’t want my survival to be pinned on what I want to do being popular that week or my health, mental or physical. I can get a little bit done some weeks and feel proud rather than guilty.
— Patrick Gerard (@PatrickGerard01) July 23, 2019

Do you think a Universal Basic Income is a good idea? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

A happier world is possible; we just have to find it!

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