Thread by @scottsantens

Many people don't seem to understand that if you install UBI within a conditional benefits system and keep all the conditional benefits without replacing any of them with UBI then all the counterproductive effects are still there. Paid work is still punished. Paternalism remains.

This is a problem mainly among those on the left, who see UBI as just more money where more is always better, when this is about far more than money. It's about unconditionality. Without UBI we need SNAP, but SNAP should be replaced by UBI because SNAP is a paternalistic program.

It also makes no sense to me to look at a group of people equally in poverty & decide that some of them should get more than others if they're already receiving assistance. Our safety net has too many holes. It's unjust to help those in the net more than those who hit the ground.

Unconditional basic income is about far more than money. It's about the construction of a foundational floor underneath everyone's feet on which to stand. I've got that floor already and so it's weird to me to focus so much on total money, but that's society's problem in general.

Life is about more than money. I don't earn that much, but that's partly my choice because I'm choosing to do so much work for free. It's a mistake to look at my total annual income and somehow pity me for it. I'm happy. I'm far happier than many if not most people earning more.

I pity those earning >$100k doing shit that's meaningless to them or even makes them feel shitty for actively making the world a worse place just to make a buck. My life is purpose-filled and I want that for everyone. Unconditional access to basic needs supports lives of purpose.

People love to judge other people based on money alone. It makes some people feel good to be a person who wants to help someone else in need, but there's not enough enabling of them to decide for themselves what they need, and far too much removal of agency "for their own good."

It may make you feel good to give someone a food voucher that you know can only be spent on organic vegetables, but quite frankly, who are you to decide that's what they need and that you have the moral authority to make that decision for them? Want to help? Enable THEIR choices.

Enough with all of this conditional welfare bullshit that perpetuates the ability of authoritarian-minded types (existing on both the left and right mind you) to coerce people into doing certain approved things, and preventing those same people from doing other unapproved things.

The single most transformative thing we can do for each other as a society is to begin to trust each other with unconditional access to the resources required for the meeting of basic needs. Decoupling that access from work is a civilizational imperative.

UBI achieves that goal.

Suggested further reading:

1. medium.com/basic-income/t…

2. medium.com/basic-income/t…

3. medium.com/basic-income/w…

#BasicIncome #YangGang #Yang2020

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