Tom Pogson
@basicbc.bsky.social
1.1K followers 350 following 1.1K posts
Musician, writer, and Basic Income Victoria BC Guy who knows the abundance of a better world IS possible. https://linktr.ee/Basicbc
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Pinned
basicbc.bsky.social
Explore the usual questions at www.scottsantens.com/basic-income...

Link also in bio.

Guy Standing also goes through them with a chapter on both "how to pay for it" and "won't people quit?" In his book "Basic Income and How We Can Make it Happen" (2015 Pelican Books.)
Image : Blue background of people climbing steps made.of money.

Caption: Unconditional Basic Income 

Doesn't reduce work and labour 
Doesn't Cause Inflation 
Doesn't take away people's power or agency 
Doesn't increase drug, alcohol or tobacco consumption 
Isn't too expensive to be useful 
Isn't inherently left or right wing
basicbc.bsky.social
Not having a basic income isn't free.

The cost of economic uncertainty, instability and people in poverty is extremely expensive.
I'd even say its bigger than quoted numbers as what opportunities, good economic activity and innovations are being left on the table?

youtu.be/wM08Xd2kEwc?...
Laura Ip - Cost of Basic Income
YouTube video by UBIVisuals
youtu.be
basicbc.bsky.social
Hang on... got some chimpanzees who would like to throw something here...
basicbc.bsky.social
Check out YouTube videos:

BBI #92 History of UBI w/ Karl Widerquist
(From the Boston Basic Income series by Alex Howlett)
(1 hour, 50 min)
www.youtube.com/live/mbtIL9o...
BBI #92: History of UBI w/ Karl Widerquist
YouTube video by Boston Basic Income
www.youtube.com
basicbc.bsky.social
From what would be later described, after sporadic moments in history of support, as part of the first wave of basic income support.

Needless to say, basic income is not a new concept.
..."social dividends" - a recognition of each citizen's share in the common heritage of productive power...the aim should be, as speedily as possible, to make the dividend large enough to cover the whole of the minimum needs of every citizen

GDH (George Douglas Howard) Cole, English Economist and Historian,1935
Reposted by Tom Pogson
crescentwand.bsky.social
wild how we keep testing different types of UBI and they're all successful

it's almost like there should be universal basic income for all people
Reposted by Tom Pogson
scottsantens.com
A guy who was homeless started getting $1,000/mo in basic income and used the money to prevent his aunt from becoming homeless.
denverbip.bsky.social
DBIP participant story archived in the U.S. Library of Congress! 😱🏛️

Mark Gaskin, DBIP Group A participant, was interviewed by StoryCorps, a nonprofit that collects powerful stories and archives them in the U.S. Library of Congress.

Full interview here: storycorps.org/stories/unho...
Unhoused in Denver, He Emptied His Bank Account to Save His Elderly Aunt - StoryCorps
Mark Gaskin was living out of his car, when he learned his elderly aunt faced eviction. Without hesitation, he emptied what he had left in his bank account to pay her rent.
storycorps.org
basicbc.bsky.social
An example from 2021 involving the US Child Tax Credit. Labour, as it turned out, didn't fall when the money went out. That happened when it stopped.
youtu.be/UACHRhbTZUc?...
UBI advocate Scott Santens explains how the Child Tax Credit ENABLED work!
YouTube video by Tom Pogson
youtu.be
basicbc.bsky.social
Former Conservative Senator, educator, leader in the struggle for a basic income for Canada and author of "Bootstraps Need Boots: One Lonely Tories Fight to End Poverty in Canada", Hugh Segal
youtu.be/pcCQ0k1yvoQ?...
Hugh Segal: A Lifelong Fight Against Poverty
YouTube video by TVO Today
youtu.be
basicbc.bsky.social
Pulling at one's bootstraps takes owning boots first.
a series of larger stacks of coins and then a jar of coins on a blurred greenish leafy background with larger green shoots growing from the coins.

Caption : it takes money to make money
basicbc.bsky.social
It sort of shifted and enhanced the view of what could happen. Originally, it was thought that more blue collar was under assault first and that white collar and especially creative fields were fairly safe. That cratered.

This rising uncertainty, regardless of what we do, won't go back in the box.
Reposted by Tom Pogson
kenjaminyang.bsky.social
Many in the Canadian basic income movement brushed this off until as recently as 2 years ago, when chatGPT became the fastest product to 100M users

Now everyone's talking about it
floydmarinescu.bsky.social
Bernie dropped this video saying AI will wipe out the working class.

“Millions of jobs will be eliminated. This is not science fiction. It’s already happening.”

The UBI movement has been saying this for years.
basicbc.bsky.social
People try to make UBI / Basic Income wayyy more complicated than it is. That's why the stories against are frequently so weird.

It's just 5 rules that create a income floor beneath you, me and everyone.
youtube.com/shorts/IPJVa...
What a Basic Income actually is.
YouTube video by Tom Pogson
youtube.com
basicbc.bsky.social
But there is something deeply powerful about the unconditionality, the fact we trust you up front...the fact we see you up front...the fact we invest in you up front.

We counted on you because you count.

One example from the Finland experiment:
youtu.be/cir4MKM1HIk?...
Karl Widerquist on UBI, voting and Trust.
YouTube video by Tom Pogson
youtu.be
basicbc.bsky.social
It's not just about poverty. It's not just about inequality. It's not just about robots. It's not just about a better social safety net turning into a solid floor.

Oh, sure, it can address many of those things. And also yes it is best complimented by strong public assets.
Reposted by Tom Pogson
violetdiscordia.bsky.social
if someone opposes universal basic income and also complains about artists selling out you are morally obligated to pants them. fyi
Reposted by Tom Pogson
beatgrrrl.bsky.social
Ireland now has a Basic Income for the Arts.
basicbc.bsky.social
The difference between welfare and basic income is that you can lose welfare.

Whether UBI or GLBI, you can't lose it. It's yours. It's a solid floor you just can't fall through, which is useful as a base below other increasingly volatile sources.
youtube.com/shorts/n2gHu...
Basic Income/UBI is not the same as welfare
YouTube video by Tom Pogson
youtube.com