, 10 tweets, 3 min read Read on Twitter
Unconditional basic income is "fuck you money" for all. Those who are against UBI don't want workers to tell employers to fuck off unless their wage/time demands are met. Those who are against UBI don't want the abused to tell their abusers to fuck off. UBI is about emancipation.
I think it's especially ridiculous hearing socialists claim a basic income enables employers to lower wages. For desireable jobs maybe, but not undesirable jobs. UBI's unconditionality is strike power for individuals. It's bargaining power to demand higher wages & shorter weeks.
Universal basic income is also venture capital for those inclined to start worker co-ops to bring democracy to the work place, and make sure all workers share in the profits. And this has been observed where UBI has been tested. People will pool their incomes and share ownership.
In other words, if you are a socialist or a communist and you are against the idea of unconditional basic income because it doesn't end capitalism, I question your motives. Do you care about people and what improves their lives? Or do you just want to win some ideological sport?
If you support socialism because you want to improve the lives of people, but you are against policies that improve the lives of people, you've lost your way. Oh you want to help by giving everyone a job? Why insist on withholding food to force people to work? For their own good?
I see a whole lot of "Arbeit Macht Frei" these days coming from the left. It's dressed in the Green New Deal and how we need to do so much work to save the planet, which is true. There's a lot of work to do. But how dare you withhold life-sustaining resources to coerce that work.
If you don't support providing all workers the power to refuse to work, then you're not interested in power to the people. Don't even pretend to be about the people if you wish to continue denying workers unconditional access to the basic needs of life, especially unpaid workers.
By decoupling income from work, UBI challenges capitalism's theory of value in a way socialism doesn't. Socialism still believes your value is determined by your work. It just wants you to own more of it.

Socialism without UBI is just continued wage slavery with nicer masters.
If you truly want a better world, throw away the labels you're using to define what you believe. Think beyond capitalism and socialism. Think beyond profit and commodification. Think about the right to refuse domination, and to instead pursue cooperation.

Missing some Tweet in this thread?
You can try to force a refresh.

Like this thread? Get email updates or save it to PDF!

Subscribe to Scott Santens
Profile picture

Get real-time email alerts when new unrolls are available from this author!

This content may be removed anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!