One issue that concerns me on the progressive side of many debates is that:

-Sometimes, the things we want– the good policies and plans that could probably make this a better world– will bring up specific challenges of their own, and people will have to work on addressing those problems.

-But any mention of these specific challenges will be interpreted as arguing against the proposed idea, and will be shut down with arguments claiming the problem won’t actually exist… or won’t be any worse than it is under the current system… or is unimportant compared to the solution it is assumed to provide.

And it becomes hard to even talk about these issues, because the moment you even mention them, you’re viewed as an enemy who’s asking in bad faith.

For example.

I 100% agree that we’d have a better world with universal basic income.

And I also 100% agree that disabled people deserve to live and be happy and safe, no matter how much care and resources their disability requires.

I think both the above goals are hugely important. I believe they are worth a LOT of work and problem-solving, to get them enshrined in society in a way that will last.

And at the same time, I think it is entirely possible that in the near future there will be a need for such problem-solving.

For example, I think it is possible that in the near future there will be enough disabled people that we have to deal with the risk of actual shortages in the resources needed to care for them.

And not all of this is just a problem caused by greedy rich people. Some resources really are limited.

And I think one of the first resources to run out is going to be “willing labor from able-bodied people who can care for the disabled.”

And I genuinely think that if we don’t plan for it carefully, this problem might get worse under universal basic income.

Because I think a lot of the caregiver labor we currently have is not actually willing labor, but is coerced from people who have no other job options and do the work as a survival necessity.

Which is a bad situation! Disabled people who need care should not be forced to get it from someone who does it only under threat of death! Healthcare workers should not be forced into involuntary labor!This is bad for everyone!

Yes, there will always be some people who do that work because they love it. And yes, there are some who don’t love it now but would do it happily for extra income on top of UBI– if the field had more funding to make the wages and work conditions better.

And, of course, hiring and training more people would lessen the strain, make the work more manageable and enjoyable, and allow those who work to do shorter shifts.

And maybe that would be enough to fix the whole problem! Maybe enough money, and enough improvement in the job conditions, would attract a high enough number of healthcare workers who enthusiastically consent to do the work and do it well.

But it would take actual effort to figure that out and to make a plan.

To allocate the money; to provide enough training to enough people. To gauge willingness among potential hires, and figure out what incentives would increase it.

And it might not be enough! There might be other things needed! It may take a LOT of work to find any good solution that even mostly fulfils the needs and the rights of all the people involved!

But any time you even mention the existence of the problem, you get interpreted as saying either “disabled people should die,” or “caregivers would be totally fine working for free.” And whether or not other people agree with those statements, the fact that they misinterpret you as saying those things is a problem.

And this may be partly an “online” issue, in the sense that it is more likely to arise in this form when discussing online.

But most people are online, and those people also exist and interact in “the real world.” And they’re still pretty much the same people in both places, even if they express things differently.

I have had this conversation with people in-person, as well. They have not always expressed the same opinions, or in the same ways. I’ve gotten responses that range from “UBI and care for the severely disabled are both totally unrealistic goals” to “both those goals would be trivially easy if the rich would just stop being greedy.”

But everywhere in that range of opinions, it has taken a lot of effort to convince them that the existence of problems is not mutually exclusive with either the importance or the possibility of achieving the goal.