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Scott Santens

@scottsantens.com

25K followers 17K following 8.9K posts

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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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · Dec 5

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. 🧵

OBSERVED EFFECTS OF UBI

No significant reduction in labor supply (38 studies meta-analysis)

Increased self-employment (301%) and part-time employment (17%)

Slight decrease in alcohol and tobacco use (31 studies meta-analysis)

New mothers extend their maternity leaves

Birth weights improve due to better maternal nutrition

Graduation rates and educational outcomes improve

Hospitalization rates decline (8.5%)

Crime goes down (15%–42%) especially illegal hunting (95%)

Domestic violence decreases (30%–51%)

Trust increases (13% in politicians | 6% in other people)

Home ownership rates increase (17%–26%)

Food security increases as does consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables

Improved cognitive functioning (43%) and personality traits (31%)

Savings go up, debts go down

Source: scottsantens

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 10h

RESULT: New Orleans has a new mayor. Helena Moreno, a Democrat known as a progressive member of the city council, easily won today’s mayoral race and cleared the 50 percent threshold to avoid a runoff. She’ll replace the retiring Democratic Mayor, Cantrell.

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 3m

Congrats to Helena and all of New Orleans!

Reposted by Scott Santens

AnnTFa_LaLaLaLa @ann-t-social.bsky.social · 15h

I want MAGA people to have the same rights and the same benefits that every single other American, and every human being, regardless of their citizenship status, should have in the US...universal healthcare, UBI, free education up to and including university, and adequate/affordable housing.

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Boo London @cmdrsue.bsky.social · 12h

If I lived in a place with better basic security, like UBI and public healthcare, I would probably be a full-time writer and artist.

Lora Kolodny @lorak.bsky.social · 20h

if healthcare was not tied to employment in the USA what would you be doing differently in your career?

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 11m

Please don't insist on targeting. $100b is nothing compared to the 10x return on investment we'd see based on the $1.5T cost of child poverty.

The Folly of Means-Testing a Child Allowance

Means-testing is a revenue-raising tax done very stupidly and inefficiently.

www.peoplespolicyproject.org

Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 15m

Beware of falling into conspiracy land. It's a dangerous place and difficult to climb out of.

Is Unconditional Basic Income a Trap Being Laid by Global Elites to Control and Enslave Us All?

2023 will mark ten years of my advocating hard for unconditional basic income. At this point, one of the things that annoys me most is the new claim from conspiracy-fueled people that the rich and pow...

www.scottsantens.com

Reposted by Scott Santens

Universal Movement For America @universal4usa.bsky.social · 8h

Universality -beginning with universal, unconditional Basic Income, Healthcare and Education- is the foundation for a PEOPLE FIRST society. A society that views the fundamental needs of humanity as the central responsibility of governance. Not corporations, not religions, *people*.

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Brooke (she/her) @brookebee.bsky.social · 2h

I think Medicare for All and UBI would decrease the need for domestic violence shelters by like 50 percent at least, more if there was no housing crisis.

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 20m

That is nice!

Reposted by Scott Santens

Evil Princess Mellica of Multitudes @mellica.bsky.social · 1h

it's nice to hear a doctor at work start talking about how "UBI would solve half of our problems" and "Poverty is a feature of our system not a bug" like, idk genuinely a little encouraging in our current climate

esp considering where we live

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Grey Azira 🇨🇦 🇺🇦 🍁 🍁 🍁 @greyazira.bsky.social · 57m

This is long, but worth the read. Makes the argument that universal basic income would be an excellent way to tamp down on authoritarianism. www.scottsantens.com/the-hidden-r...

The Hidden Reasons Authoritarianism Is Growing — And How to Reverse It

It takes all kinds. Humanity would have never made it this far without a multitude of people with a wide diversity of personality types and preferences. It is our individual differences wherein lies o...

www.scottsantens.com

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 43m

Kristi Noem probably hands out bonuses for dog kills. Either that or she reprimands for not letting her get the kill.

Raider @iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social · 1h

ICE GOONS shot and killed a family dog in Texas and then fled the scene.

ICE agents shot and killed a family dog in Texas and then fled the scene.

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 1h

Why so eager to deny money to people who aren't you? Pretty sure money works for you to secure what you feel you need at any point in time, anywhere you happen to be. Certainly works well for me. Do you feel you should be paid in vouchers and services instead of cash?

Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 1h

Lotta those people around now.

The Hidden Reasons Authoritarianism Is Growing — And How to Reverse It

www.scottsantens.com

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Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 2h

Pope Leo quotes Hannah Arendt:

“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist."

www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...

Pope Leo calls for news agencies to stand as bulwark against "post-truths," lies and manipulation

Pope Leo XIV has encouraged international news agencies to stand firm as a bulwark against the "ancient art of lying" and manipulation.

www.cbsnews.com

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Lynn Becker @cmgiulini.bsky.social · 13h

After spending 43 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, evidence hidden by the prosecution reversed his conviction. Rather than finally enjoying freedom, ICE abducted him for deportation

Depraved.

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

He was wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years. Moments after being released, ICE took him

Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam now faces deportation.

www.miamiherald.com

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Microplastics Spookmelier @leastactionhero.bsky.social · 13h

today in "predicted by 30 Rock"

Edie Falco on 30 Rock:
I MISSED THE VOTE ON A BILL TO LEGALIZE RECREATIONAL WHALE TORTURE.

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 14h

We could have started UBI decades ago though. It doesn't require some magical amount of AI to work.

Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 16h

$500/mo is better than $0/mo and has been shown to be very helpful and lead to better outcomes in pilot after pilot.

Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 16h

Dr. King supported it too. It's entirely possible for an idea to be supported by people across the entire political spectrum.

"The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct, and immediate abolition of poverty." — Martin Luther King Jr.

About MLK's advocacy for basic income

www.scottsantens.com

Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 16h

Yes they are different things, and it's all about the marginal tax rate imposed by phaseout taxes. But they can be identical if the MTRs are.

Negative Income Tax is Not Cheaper Than Universal Basic Income, Nor is Guaranteed Income 'More Progressive' by Excluding the Rich

Many people don't know this, but Milton Friedman was once asked in the Spring of 2000 what he thought about a universal basic income (UBI) in comparison to his proposed negative income tax (NIT) and t...

www.scottsantens.com

Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 16h

Sounds like they may enjoy the Monsters Inc argument for UBI.

The Monsters, Inc. Argument for Basic Income

YouTube video by UBIVisuals

youtu.be

Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 16h

Passing basic income is very different than making stuff free. Basic income maintains and even improves the price system by better signaling true demand. And yes UBI would work because all the evidence shows it even improves productivity.

Unconditional Basic Income Would Fix a Major Flaw in Markets

Markets can't tell the difference between a lack of demand and a lack of ability to express demand

www.scottsantens.com

Reposted by Scott Santens

Tom Pogson @basicbc.bsky.social · 20h

Philippe van Parijs on the History of Basic Income
(8 min, 16 sec)
youtu.be/cXeWQ7siElU?...

Philippe van Parijs on the History of Basic Income

YouTube video by Basic Income Earth Network BIEN

youtu.be

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 16h

UBI has majority support.