Unconditional / Universal Basic Income (UBI) knowledge resource Founder & CEO of UBI-focused nonprofit ITSAfoundation.org Host of The Basic Income Show youtube.com/scottsantens My #UBI FAQ: scottsantens.com Contact me: linktr.ee/scottsantens
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NEW: No, Charlie Kirk was not practicing politics the right way. That's what Ezra Klein said. We can condemn this heinous assassination but also recognize that with his 2020 election denialism and extremist rhetoric, Kirk built his movement with falsehoods and in a wrong and divisive manner.
Economists worry that a "universal basic income" would make recipients lazier. Data from programs around the world suggests the opposite is true, write Nobel Prize-winners Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo.
Witnesses Assumed Charlie Kirk Shooter Was Just Ordinary Gunman On School Campus
I can’t tell you what happened with the murder of Charlie Kirk, but there’s a larger issue not being discussed. In moments of authoritarian crisis, the environment is ripe for accelerationists to inflame tensions for their own purposes. jaredyatessexton.substack.com/p/the-opport...
I think this is the shirt the person of interest is wearing. It is a Disabled Veterans National Foundation Long Sleeve Wicking Tee. It says Land of the Free Home of the Brave. Am I eligible to be an FBI agent now? Sadly I am missing the only required prerequisite-loyalty to Trump!
Between Loomer suddenly deleting her savage criticism of Kirk in July and today's FBI images of a person of interest, boy I dunno
Mutual aid is becoming increasingly important in response to neofascism. Hopefully @comingle.bsky.social is a tool that will help once anyone can join it. It's also all the more reason we need to fight to win unconditional basic income because testing for deservedness enables exclusion of out-groups
We created a society and a economic system that makes it so that the poor can only get poorer and we ignore how that poverty can lead so many down the road to suicide We need basics like those above provided by a government that should exist FOR its people or at least a UBI to cover expenses 3/
Anyone serious about fixing the political climate should be talking about actually getting things done that help people and fix these issues. Gun control, UBI, better wages, free housing, universal healthcare (including mental health), and feeding people would immediately start to fix this.
All Members of Parliament should be Voluntary workers. They are serving their communities, and should be doing it 100% sans salary. Then you just KNOW we'd have a fair Universal Basic Income roll-out within 5, 4 3, 2…
This is one of the reasons I think that the Denver Basic Income Project observed little difference between groups. It was partly because those who had SSI kept it and those who didn't were better able to get it, while those who got $500/mo and $1k/mo lost their SSI, making the 3 groups more similar.
Society pays me a UBI and I'll give everyone my work for free
No, Melissa Hortman was practicing politics the right way.
No better time to post Hunter S. Thompson on 9/12/2001. www.espn.com/espn/page2/s...
9/11 is a great time to remember that the imperial power will seize on any opportunity to do what it was going to do anyway, especially if it gets to do it under the gaudy pagentry of being the Aggrieved
Some news organizations have dared report the views that made Kirk famous. The hagiographers can’t even mention those views out loud, because they make clear he greatly contributed to the politics of rage, conspiracy, and violence that may have ultimately ended his life.
The U.S. government has become a neofascist regime run by a sociopath. Keeping it funded now is to participate in the most atrocious abuse of power in U.S. history. So I for one have decided that the best route is to shut the whole thing down.
Ah, the old "if I just quit my job I could finish these revisions to my novel in about a week and resume writing my second one, but I wouldn't be able to afford food or shelter without a job" dilemma that has plagued new authors for years. Why yes, I am in favour of UBI, why do you ask?
How might Universal Basic Income (UBI) change the way you interact with your immediate family? Consider the possibilities of more quality time spent together. Would it affect your daily interactions, responsibilities, or the support you offer each other?
Gotta say, I'm pleased with the word "universality" getting more traction out there. It's not just about unconditional universal Basic Income. It's about *all* the things that a healthy society should set as baselines for the population. Basic Income, Healthcare and Education is the *START*
It's not true. The rich are actively spending money to prevent UBI.
This is America.
Just so we’re clear, Charlie Kirk shouldn’t be shot down while talking and kids shouldn’t be shot down in classrooms. It’s that easy. However, a lot of powerful people are okay with both things, so here we are, surrounded by bullets, blood, thoughts, and prayers.
The shooting of Charlie Kirk was the 46th school shooting of the year. The 47th one happened moments afterwards. www.cnn.com/2025/09/10/u...
This afternoon, in addition to Charlie Kirk, there was a school shooting. Bullets don't know and don't care if you are a Republican or Democrat. It is time for Republicans and Democrats to find a way to work together to reduce gun violence. www.wcpo.com/us-news/crim...
Today's discovery of signs of past life on Mars is a legacy of President Obama's NASA direction from 2011-2015 to get the Mars program back on track. Earlier this year, President Trump cut NASA's 2026 science budget by 47%.
A Mars sample collected in 2024 may be “the closest we’ve actually come to discovering ancient life on Mars,” according to NASA officials 🧪 eos.org/research-and...
It's ridiculous. It's also not backed by the evidence from pilots done outside of the pandemic years, nor many other pilots done in the pandemic years, nor any of the saturation pilots where community provision is tested.
I'm sure that will definitely reduce the deficit. Yup.
My current preference is $1300/mo based on 2025 poverty guidelines, but I'm also happy with starting lower as long as it's universal to set the precedent. Can always raise it when its popularity rises.
Any adult amount under $458/mo I'd also give to kids because that's the amount I think every kid should get based on current poverty guidelines. I think $500/mo for every adult and kid is totally doable. Would only require a 7% flat surtax which would also function as a proper phaseout tax.
New Mexico is in the US.
About 12,500 people for one year if the amount is $1300/mo.
Also apparently the Tooth Fairy is now paying $15.
Just read via Axios that kids these days who get a weekly allowance can expect $37 a week on avg. That works out to a basic income of $160/mo. So I guess that's my new lower limit for a starting amount for any universal basic income policy. Good thing @comingle.bsky.social is aiming for $50/week.
This is also why the elites oppose universal basic income and are actively lobbying to ban testing it.
Just saying, progressive policies like a UBI, expanded social services, and taxing the rich would go a long way. (ie. stuff the Democrats/Liberals think is "extreme" and the Republicans/Conservatives would deride, yet we're stuck with those parties because our voting system sucks) #cdnpoli #uspoli
While Bay Area transit fights for an emergency loan from the state, a Bay Area refinery which "for 16 years spewed illegal amounts of cancer-causing gases and chemicals into the air" might get a huge bailout Close the plant, UBI for the former-workers. www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/v...
UBI serves to increase wages for jobs people don't want, and serves to subsidize wages for jobs people really want. So in this case, it seems it could help make filming more affordable.
UBI pilots that provide to entire towns are tests of UBI. Such saturation site pilots also tend to have the most positive results.
Imagine all the people... ...could actually benefit from their country's income, like: We build a society with one role only – using profit to properly feed, house, educate its members. Provide them with unconditional basic income & healthcare and a sense of actually loving life! wapo.st/41JYgAG
The rich who don’t have to work do just fine. We manage to get through weekends and vacations okay. And seniors do well, coming up with all kinds of meaningful stuff to do, including civic participation. UBI will better enable the pursuit of meaningful uses of our time, including jobs.
Basic Income Guarantee Webinar Hosted by GASP Tickets, Wed, 10 Sep 2025 at 7:00 PM | Eventbrite share.google/gsKo7tsboBA7...
I wrote this years ago about billion dollar lotteries and how they're basically a regressive tax and how we should do universal basic income instead.
It's why we have to fight for UBI and why we must win that fight.
Nonsense. They don't want us to have UBI or else we'd already have it. UBI gives the power to say no to them and actively engage in democracy to work against elite interests. It is a floor that all income adds to, that also enables all unpaid work, like activism. It also empowers grassroots reps.
Universal Basic Income would improve mental health, reduce homelessness, reduce crime, and reduce drug and alcohol abuse. I'm not saying it would 100% fix all of these, but that it would significantly help with all of them as just one policy. UBI and universal healthcare are musts for our wellbeing.
The way to improve mental health is universal basic income. Also many other things including crime, but definitely mental health. maxkasy.github.io/home/files/p...
UBI is not a gaslight. Billionaires do not want you to have UBI and through it the power to withhold your labor, or else we would already have it. UBI is something we must organize around and push for and win.
Such a bad take. No. First off, I doubt the veracity of many SV folks who say one thing but do another. What I care about is action. These are the guys putting their money into basic income pilot bans. One of the most important reasons for UBI is to reduce inequality. It's how to push a wealth tax.
Supermarket chain threatens to close stores after rise in violence and aggression against staff - ABC News I will NEVER support violence yet THIS news does not surprise me When a person has nothing to lose, they will do anything to survive How rich is ENOUGH? Tax the rich, introduce a UBI!!
Yes, and I believe we should have a UBI/income floor, and pay for it by taxing land owners (a form of a wealth tax that helps reverses the injustices of redlining and white settlement). But I was trying to keep the video under 3 minutes, so I didn't have time to get into all that
Safety first, so stop the attackers from inflicting further damage; Then stop the bleed by halting government money flow into paramilitary forces; Resuscitate the economy as needed with UBI and progressive taxes; Then clean wounds by rooting out heritage ghouls;
UBI and public healthcare would take care of many problems, full publicly funded education (even postsecondary) would cover most of the rest. Easily could be funded by adjusted taxes so there would be no more billionaires or incentives for companies to make everyone at the top super-rich.
Yeah, universal basic income would be the biggest gamechanger for us autistic peeps. And better healthcare, including mental health.
New Mexico has embraced universality in their free childcare system, becoming the first state with it, and providing about $12,000 a year per kid in free care. They decided they wanted to eliminate the cliff effect and stigma of means-testing, and in doing so, maximize labor force participation. 👏👏
I see both Universal Basic Income and protecting nature as necessary elements of a pro-human society. We are part of nature. The artificial motivators of capitalism are what divorce us from it and push us into a cancerous mindset. With UBI, if you’re being abused by an employer, you can leave.
A highly unequal economy that is 70% consumer based means that we are far less resilient to recessions and crises. We should want an economy with a broad base. Universal basic income ensures we have a broad base. An economy with UBI will do far better at producing what the non-rich want.
Besides being bad for people, it is also bad for the economy for income and wealth inequality to be so severe. Our capacity to meet demand is lower than it should be, which makes inflation more likely in events like the pandemic. Prices for stuff is higher because the rich are price insensitive.
Also the top 10% are consuming half of all goods and services and the bottom 60% are consuming only 20%. Our economy has become reoriented over the past five decades away from the demands of the middle class and toward those with high incomes. Fixing this requires UBI, M4A, and taxing the rich.
I don't argue that UBI solves everything. I argue that we need UBI as part of the package that makes the rest easier to solve. Major education reforms are important too.
This is a cool development and something to consider as some good news. Indoor solar cells that generate electricity from light could potentially remove the need for the batteries that power stuff like smoke detectors and remote controls.
What's happening in Nepal? Here is an informative read on what's happening there. And it is a cautionary tale for the global elite. 🧵 Nepal doesn't have just corruption....the children of the elite live like royalty while the regular people can't find work.....sound familiar?
For all those who think their power and wealth will protect them...I give you Nepal.
Yes, I agree about the pressure part and about how challenging it will still be. I just dislike framings that suggest maybe just maybe, we might be able to finally afford UBI if we automate x% of labor, when we could have done a small UBI decades ago and instead let inequality greatly increase.
Part of the importance of UBI is to create demand via spending which will create jobs for people to have. There will always be some demand for human labor so long as humans can express that demand. UBI enables that and also unpaid purpose-filled work. Here's something I've written about this.
don't get distracted. you don't need a generated hentai ai image of your blorbo. you need free healthcare and universal basic income
I can imagine a movement that prioritizes free university education, paid family leave, MFA, child subsidies, and perhaps even some sort of UBI or “citizen inheritance,” paired with heavy investment in research and innovation support more socially beneficial start ups.
UBI would be an extremely efficient way to off-set the effects of tariffs etc. Would also lower crime etc.
Sorry, not hiring writers. That's great to hear you'd love to get more involved in the space though.
1. Give everyone money. UBI is way more effective at getting people money than means-tested programs, we've seen this in study after study. 2. Wealth tax. One reason why you need so much money is because of wealth inequality, which drives up the price of all commodities.
A billionaire will pay far more in new taxes than they get in UBI. We already give billionaires the standard deduction. We can give them UBI instead. Their disposable income would go down, not up, despite the UBI, because of taxes. It makes far more sense to include them and tax them, than exclude.
No true trial has after tested $2k, but that was the amount Canada did for CERB during the pandemic. As for losing effectiveness for every $100, that's hogwash. And UBI tests very regularly show decreases in drug abuse.
The proposal was for $1000/mo, and it eliminated zero benefits. Lots of lies were spread because it was a primary. You don't need to spread them now. It's over. You would have gotten $1000/mo in addition to your healthcare, not instead of.
what infuriates me is that so many of my problems could be solvedcby universal basic income and then i could just focus on looking for work instead of figuring out how to just scrape by.
UBI isn't just money. It's unconditional permanent access to survival resources. That's a big power redistribution that enables more power redistribution. It's why UBI doesn't exist yet. It makes labor voluntary. It better enables civic participation. Think more deeply on this.
Record homelessness and now these figures. Numbers as bad as the worst of the recession. The inequality is breathtaking. Not all these will be on or eligible for social. A UBI, like for artists here in Ireland already, would save generations. www.thejournal.ie/child-povert...
A bit of UBI history for you:
I doubt it. I bet you'd either get bored eventually of doing nothing or what you consider nothing I would consider something.
Increase unemployment benefits to a liveable amount and a huge percentage of petty theft will cease overnight. For that matter, go one better, and introduce a UBI . End poverty and you solve so many other issues. Even ‘Mr Ritchie’s’ will sell more groceries.
SCOTUS: considering race as one factor in a college applicant's file is blatantly unconstitutional ALSO SCOTUS: considering race as one factor in targeting whom to detain and deport is cool cool cool
our first work meeting of the week has left me extremely depressed about the state of my job/career again. sigh. things were actually looking up recently and I was starting to feel comfortable but I'm back to being nervous af. I'm so tired of needing money. wish I lived in a society with UBI.
Silksong is pretty great. Amazing what you can do with, like, resources and time. Maybe Silksong is the case study that finally gets us UBI.
UBI works and crows know it. Just waiting for everyone else to catch up. (New version)
If you think UBI and Free Healthcare should be implemented ASAP, you're probably more aligned with most of the folks in the party than any of the dumbass establishment Dems.
We could have started a UBI decades ago. We don't need AI for it.
Why do you assume that people provided UBI somehow have a harder time finding purpose? If you started getting $1300/mo that all other income added to, do you think you'd have a harder time in that regard? Do you think rich people have a harder time?
I wish @mark-carney.bsky.social would see UBI as tariff relief for Canadian citizens the way he is willing to bail out corporations affected. He seems quick to help buffer assets and build oil pipelines but at what point is he going to see the rest of us?
Leaders who recognize the science behind and potential positive impact of Universal Basic Income as we all move, inexorably, further into the digitized, artificially-intelligenced 21st century are the leaders who will reach the majority of Americans where they live right now. 3/3
Oh I think about this a LOT
Statement from LA Mayor Bass regarding the Supreme Court decision “I want the entire nation to hear me when I say this isn’t just an attack on the people of Los Angeles, this is an attack on every person in every city in this country.“ (Full statement in photo below)
UBI would definitely help reduce bike thefts. My last bike was stolen during the pandemic during the shutdown phase before any stimulus checks went out.
Next, let's do a study to find out if universal basic income is effective!
Yeah, that is interesting...
A guaranteed income program has been life-changing for Philly moms. “It would stop DHS from taking our children. Because by us not having the money, they consider us in poverty, so they’re saying it’s neglect, and they’re taking our kids." resolvephilly.org/gih/philly-j...
Full episode: youtu.be/W6aAq1bzm_c?...
It's a serious problem that our trust in institutions has eroded so much, but they deserve it. Universal basic income will help because it is the act of institutions trusting us all. Trust given is trust earned, and various basic income experiments like the one in Finland have shown increased trust.
Arendt on free universities offers rationale for UBI: "give them all a modest living even those who don’t need it." NO "stigma of charity & everything that goes along with it, like proof of need, inquiry into family finances, etc. That just poisons the atmosphere and takes the starch out of people"
There's no UBI because enough people haven't been pushing for UBI and demanding it. So those impacted by AI should start pushing for UBI. It's not going to just happen.