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1/ To me, this is the core of the FJG v UBI debate 👇. (I expect this will change, but here are my thoughts after two absolutely massive debates with UBIers that I've had in the past weeks.)
[#LearnMMT thread v.1]
[#LearnMMT thread v.1]
2/ A check will undoubtedly help millions. My concern, a primary concerne of government and SOCIETY, is the collective. UBI will harm the collective, which in turn will harm citizens, starting of course with the most vulnerable.
3/ Most UBI supporters don't understand the fallacy of composition. They're so passionate abt the check being good for THEM, they don't look deeper to see that scaling that program up for the entire economy is extremely detrimental. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy_o…
4/ Yes, the intentions behind UBI are commendable. Life of leisure, not being coerced, doing what YOU feel is best, being given the money to just define your life as you, not The Man, sees fit.
5/ The problem is not the intent, the problem is that UBI's specific way of doing it is really, really bad for the collective. The reality is that some of that is indeed incompatible to a functioning society – and us literally existing as a species in 2100.
6/ So how do we best give UBIers what they want in a way that is compatible with our long term survival? I don't want you to not have these things (total freedom from a job or however you'd say it). #MMT demonstrates that it is simply incompatible with our society and species...
7/ ...existing in the long term.
#MMT isn't saying you *shouldn't* have these things. You should. But to a significant degree it demonstrates that it simply can't work.
So what do we do?
#MMT isn't saying you *shouldn't* have these things. You should. But to a significant degree it demonstrates that it simply can't work.
So what do we do?
8/ We must first redefine the terms work, job, and value. In our corrupt society, they are currently defined as "make a rich white guy richer." It needs to be instead, "caring for others." This is what can make work more pleasant and fulfilling.
9/ Given a caring economy, the FJG is probably not as far off from UBI as most think. The #MMT FJG is a suite of jobs you can voluntarily take or not take. Dignified wages and benefits (including vacation).
10/ Whether you take the JG or not, you *still* have your free universal healthcare and education benefits (and all our existing federal benefits – the #MMT-FJG does not reduce or eliminate any of them!), which would no longer be chained to a capitalist job.
11/ Under the MMT-FJG, those who can't or shouldn't work would get a true basic income. Those who don't WANT to work would also get a dignified check, but a modestly lower one. But this is in addition to all our universal benefits!
12/ Here is more from economist Pavlina Tcherneva (@ptcherneva), who is a lead economist on the MMT-FJG, and has been writing on it for twenty years.
13/ To learn what the #MMT Federal Job Guarantee actually is, from those who actually developed it, instead of the many terrible fantasies that assume the worst about it, start here.
16/ For those who think I’m exaggerating regarding human extinction. vice.com/en_us/article/…
17/ For those who think I’m exaggerating regarding human extinction. forbes.com/sites/jeffmcma…
18/ For those who think I’m exaggerating regarding human extinction. 
Updated thread here:
