Lori Summers Profile picture
Jul 23, 2019 11 tweets 2 min read
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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

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More from @madlori

Feb 25, 2021
Story time! As I think I've mentioned, awhile back I set my Chromecast (which I kind of just leave on all the time) to display photos from my travels and photography hobby. Best decision. I constantly have a background of reminders of things. ANYWAY. Story from my Norway trip. /1
Part of that trip was a four day road trip. My first stop after leaving Oslo was the Borgund Stave Church. There are 26 intact medieval stavekirken in Norway, this one is the most complete. You've probably seen photos of it. (I took this one) /2 Image
So this is a site of historical interest, so there's a visitor's center and a museum etc. You stop there first and pay. I was there looking around when I overheard a man with a backpacker's pack talking to the lady at the desk about the bus schedule. /3
Read 9 tweets
Feb 5, 2021
So I'm reading "Debt: The first 5000 Years" by anthropologist David Graeber and it's kind of blowing my mind. A lot. We all knew money was a construct but turns out it is one in a totally different way than we even thought. /1
Almost all history of money starts with "In the beginning, there was Bartering." Adam Smith, whose "Wealth of Nations" invented economics, starts with this. Joe has a cow and needs shoes, Tim has shoes but needs a cow, etc. This was cumbersome, so money was invented. /2
Sounds logical, right? Sounds familiar? Except for the part where THAT NEVER ACTUALLY HAPPENED? Smith (and the thousands of others who parrot this fairy tale) posited a hypothetical bartering society that has never been found to have actually existed in human history. /3
Read 8 tweets
Jan 17, 2021
Here's a fun story. I hope. When I was in college, I directed a bi-college student musical theater production of Fiddler on the Roof. One night after rehearsal I being driven home by Josh, the guy who was playing Tevye. 1/
The guy who was playing Lazar Wolf (whose name I sadly can't recall) was dating a woman who was also in the show, in the chorus. Josh says to me: "Lazar calls his girlfriend something I've never heard before. Have you heard him do that?" 2/
Me: No, I don't think so.
Josh: It sounds kinda Jewish? [Josh was Jewish himself]
Me: Is it like a pet name, like honey or sweetie?
Josh: If it is, it's one I haven't heard. It kinda sounds like...bubbehzaydee? [forgive my attempt at spelling that] Which is like "grandma?" 3/
Read 6 tweets
Dec 3, 2020
This is a thread about how the much-discussed devaluation of expertise that's plaguing this country is a manifestation of white patriarchy. Ready? Here we go.1/
There's a well-known phenomenon in which professions that women enter in significant numbers become lower-paid and lose social capital. Biology, education, pediatric medicine. This isn't a vague impression, there have been multiple economic studies about this effect. 2/
It also works in reverse; when men decide a previously-female-dominated job is one they want to do, suddenly it becomes higher-paying and more prestigious. Computer programming is the usual example of this. 3/
Read 11 tweets
Dec 2, 2020
I listen to a lot of true crime podcasts, so there is inevitably talk about victims' rights (which is a whole Problematic Thing, but that's another thread) and how "criminals have all the rights." Well, good, because that's exactly how it needs to be. 1/
Criminals and the accused need the MOST protection of their rights. People seem to think that this is because we all want to protect the pwecious widdle criminals (or something), but this is not to protect criminals but to PLACE CONSTRAINTS ON THE STATE'S POWER. 2/
The accused and the convicted need rights because the state has the most power over their lives and freedoms. When you're subject to incarceration and detention, you better have strong safeguards against state overreach. 3/
Read 7 tweets
Nov 17, 2020
Hey so I've had some friends/fam ask me, a Science Person, how the new vaccines work. I am not an immunologist, but I speak the Science Language and I'm pretty good at explaining stuff, so here goes. 1/
The new COVID vaccines are not like traditional vaccines, which use dead or denatured infectious agents (viruses, mostly) to prompt the immune system to mount a defense. They're mRNA vaccines, which is a vaccine tech that's been in development for awhile now. 2/
Most of the mRNA work has been done in cancer research, but it's also been investigated for stuff like influenza and Zika. If effective (as it seems to be) it's faster, cheaper, and less risky. Here's how it works. 3/
Read 12 tweets

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