Scott Santens

I've been researching the idea of Unconditional Universal Basic Income since 2013. Here's a collection of findings I've compiled from various UBI experiments and studies of cash transfer programs around the world. This will be a VERY LONG and ongoing thread focused entirely on empirical evidence. 🧵

This story from Fox News is hilarious to me in how it's meant to be scary. They asked around at an @abdulelsayed.bsky.social rally and his supporters support basic income. Great! Now go to a Trump rally and ask about $5,000 checks. I also like how it mentions the 250 pilots showing positive results.

Congrats @alvintedjo.bsky.social on being elected as Mississauga's new mayor. We've been supporting him since his first run in 2020 (when we campaigned on basic income together) and have seen him become a great leader and beloved councillor. Alvin wishing you the best.

Author of Bullshit Jobs, David Graeber said basic income unleashes human creativity and innovation, which both the left and right can support. Instead, we're held back by bullshit jobs. The next John Lennon "is lifting boxes in some department store as welfare conditionality".

I was pro UBI before 2026 but hoO boy has this year in particular not helped change my mind.

"Who will benefit: the handful building the technology, or everyone whose work makes it possible?" - MGI Founder Michael Tubbs in Guaranteed Income Works on creating economic stability in the AI era Read more at https://guaranteedincomeworks.substack.com/p/we-need-an-ai-public-trust-that-pays

You ever think of just how many provlems could be solved with universal basic income for everyone

Just over 40,000 people have received basic incomes in over 200 pilots across the U.S. since 2017. This is 50% more people than that, from one company, and still no UBI in sight.

Our ECI starts on the 4th of January 2027. Today (Monday, 26. Oct. 2026), there are only: 70 days (10 weeks) left. Come join us and help us prepare the ECI. Contact us at info@basic-income.eu basic-income.eu #UBI #ECIUBI2027 #basicincome

The Irish ran an experiment with a Guaranteed Income for artists. They kept working in their art, net gain for the economy, and better health. Universal Basic Income can work for everyone, simplifying taxes & supporting those unable to work full time

Homelessness would reduce substantially with UBI imo. It's needed now more than ever.

If we had universal basic income and affordable housing then changing jobs or careers would not be the existential threat it is today.

On the compass all three statements pull left and barely up or down. UBI pulls hardest, the shorter work week least. Unlike the land value tax last time, nothing here touches the libertarian to authoritarian axis. https://kiwivalues.nz/research/welfare-and-work/ 7/8 #nzpol #nz

Elon Musk has spent more money on American elections in the last two years than George Soros has in his entire life.

Dr. Tyler Black highlights a truth proven by data: "Every experiment on basic income shows it saves, not costs, extra money."

Or we just implement the unconditional basic income, universal healthcare, and free education, paid for by AI work, AI which is trained by OUR intellectual properties WITHOUT asking.

We know how to solve poverty We know how to solve homelessness We already have an understanding of the causes WE ALREADY KNOW THE SOLUTIONS!!! It’s not a question of how or why anymore it’s a question of when are we going to start… It all starts with an unconditional basic income…

Is a universal basic income a good idea? OPP voters are keenest at +0.65, with 90% agreeing. Greens +0.53, Labour a softer +0.25. ACT -0.59, National -0.44, NZ First -0.30. 84% of ACT voters disagree. https://kiwivalues.nz/research/welfare-and-work/ 2/8 #nzpol #nz

I can't help but feel they would save money by just eradicating all the bureaucracy and establishing unconditional UBI (on top of it being objectively more ethical and better for society overall). 🙄

In 2024, a Russian disinformation network spread rumors about the then-vice presidential Democratic candidate Tim Walz assaulting a student while he was a teacher. Fast forward two years, and the same network spread similar rumours about James Talarico before midterms.

Send them a $1,300 check every month and tell them America is so great it's issuing a regular dividend to citizens now just like our greatest corporations do.

"AI agents left to explore a virtual island without a specific task began inventing challenges of their own. MIT researchers say the behavior bears the hallmarks of play." If agents can figure out play and academics can figure out play builds skills, then STFU ABOUT HUMANS NEEDING JOBS FOR MEANING.

This article contains no mention of the fact that Alaska uses ranked choice voting, which I think is important for people to know because THERE IS NO SPOILER EFFECT IN ALASKA. Anyone who doesn't want the Democrat to win can just rank both Dan Sullivans. The votes of the other Dan will go to Dan.

UBI - Because you can't just hunt or farm when billionaires own all the land... ... which means you have _no option_ but to work for those that do own the land if you want to survive. That "no option" is slavery. UBI is freedom from that slavery.

There are plenty of socialists who support UBI, specifically because it makes it a lot less risky to do socialism in a capitalist world: people are a lot more willing to unionize / join strikes, or quit their jobs and form cooperatives, when they no longer fear doing so will cause them to starve.

Things like UBI & affordable healthcare are only "problematic" to corpos whose exploitation of workers relies on those workers not being able to just leave without sacrificing their work insurance and ability to afford basic necessities

Government can solve this today. Implement a UBI. Then tax what it costs on the wealth. But DO IT first. They don't need to wait.

David Graeber perfectly captures the essence of why UBI is essential: it gives us back our agency.

Guaranteed Income Pilot Changed Lives, Could It Change Alameda’s Attitudes Towards Poverty? https://alamedapost.com/news/guaranteed-income-pilot-changed-lives-could-it-change-alamedas-attitudes-towards-poverty/

This one's a tough one. On the one hand, I don't want lots of people dying from a preventable virus, but on the other, what are we even doing still skinning minks? Wait, what's hard about this?? Oh capitalism and your hijinx.

Rein in data centers. Block corporations from mass layoffs. Make the AI economy benefit everyone. Stop AI abuses of our data. Require government approval for new AI products. Together, these five guardrails will protect us from an AI-powered dystopia.

Right now we have a UBI, it's just set at $0. We can decide it should be higher than that. We can decide no-one needs to prove why they get to survive. We're also better off if we do this, but that shouldn't need be said. Because it just damn well shouldn't.

"The people we followed [who were provided basic income]... They were able to go out to dinner and get whatever they wanted on the menu — just little things that really don't show up anywhere in economic data, but to me, kind of made all the difference in these people's lives for the year."

Just gonna say we can afford a UBI, free Healthcare, free education and free public transport. We just a have to choose to do it.

As Tim Pool said that universal basic income would lead to hyperinflation (naturally) I'm reminded of this fun clip because, well, that's not how inflation works. youtu.be/7k5ND1P0ZuI?...

What if protecting nature starts with income security for communities? Two-year basic income pilot with 211 Indigenous people in the Amazon found improvements in food security, savings and wellbeing. Nearly 90% adopted environmentally beneficial practices. zurl.co/FbYoE

It’s blindingly obvious to me that the government needs to tax AI to fund a universal basic income. With more and more jobs being taken by AI, there is a major welfare problem on the horizon. @andyburnham.bsky.social @zackpolanski.bsky.social @eddavey.libdems.org.uk bsky.app/profile/stan...

I'd ask them what kinda games they'd like to play in the future, and if they want anything remotely large, bring up Universal Basic Income.

Challenging the billionaires to compete to become supervillains for aggressive good instead of this same old bullshit. Instead of “fuck you and your planet”, I expect “fuck you, I have secretly fixed the water in Flint” “fuck you, everyone in my state now has UBI.” Be Dolly, not Joanne.

With poverty you're either paying to address it one way, or paying to address it another. Letting it play out costs even more. Better to address it up front in a way that is most effective, dignified and inexpensive. Welcome to basic income. bsky.app/profile/scot...

Another under-discussed aspect of UBI is it will empower workers. It'll be much harder for employers to get away with poor employee treatment when they have a safety net allowing them to quit jobs that mistreat them.

Exactly! 💯 People deserve financial security and affordable healthcare without all the endless political drama. UBI + Medicare for All would be a solid starting point. Let’s focus on solutions that actually improve people’s lives! 👏

With AI companies illegally scraping the entire history of human intellectual & creative output, putting everyone out of jobs... It'll be fascinating when we realize Universal Basic Income (UBI) is reparations for the largest theft of human labor in history that destroyed our ability to find work.