Scott Santens
@scottsantens.com
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
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
Pinned
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. 🧵
This will be a VERY LONG and ongoing thread focused entirely on empirical evidence. 🧵
Reposted by Scott Santens
Ireland has shown that basic income works — not just socially, but economically.
Give people time and security to develop their skills, and the returns flow back to society. Now let’s go further.
#UniversalBasicIncome #Economics
Give people time and security to develop their skills, and the returns flow back to society. Now let’s go further.
#UniversalBasicIncome #Economics
February 11, 2026 at 3:02 PM
Ireland has shown that basic income works — not just socially, but economically.
Give people time and security to develop their skills, and the returns flow back to society. Now let’s go further.
#UniversalBasicIncome #Economics
Give people time and security to develop their skills, and the returns flow back to society. Now let’s go further.
#UniversalBasicIncome #Economics
Reposted by Scott Santens
We have received numerous credible reports of torture, killing, and inhumane treatment of detained individuals at the Camp East Montana migrant detention facility, located within Fort Bliss. #txlege
February 10, 2026 at 6:47 PM
We have received numerous credible reports of torture, killing, and inhumane treatment of detained individuals at the Camp East Montana migrant detention facility, located within Fort Bliss. #txlege
"Rather than creating an age of abundance in which most people no longer have to worry about money, new technologies have contributed to a two-tiered society comprising a relatively few with extraordinary wealth and a vast number of people barely making it."
It's all about distribution
We need UBI
It's all about distribution
We need UBI
AI and the Coming Jobless Economy
AI will make most of us poorer and a few fabulously wealthy — unless its productivity gains are allocated fairly. Here’s what we should we be considering now.
open.substack.com
February 11, 2026 at 2:20 PM
"Rather than creating an age of abundance in which most people no longer have to worry about money, new technologies have contributed to a two-tiered society comprising a relatively few with extraordinary wealth and a vast number of people barely making it."
It's all about distribution
We need UBI
It's all about distribution
We need UBI
OH COME ON
Trump to direct Pentagon to buy coal to revive industry, Bloomberg News says reut.rs/46vkQiO
Trump to direct Pentagon to buy coal to revive industry, Bloomberg News says
U.S. President Donald Trump is set to direct the Pentagon to use government funding and Pentagon contracts to sustain U.S. coal-fired power plants, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing a White House official.
reut.rs
February 11, 2026 at 5:46 AM
OH COME ON
Reposted by Scott Santens
Rep Ro Khanna today said he saw instructions given by Trump to the FBI directing that they redact references to interactions with him in the testimony of Epstein victims. This would appear to be one of the passages that was supposed to have been redacted.
February 11, 2026 at 4:15 AM
Rep Ro Khanna today said he saw instructions given by Trump to the FBI directing that they redact references to interactions with him in the testimony of Epstein victims. This would appear to be one of the passages that was supposed to have been redacted.
Reposted by Scott Santens
Helluva statement from Colorado Rep Crow (D) on the Trump administration's failure to indict him and others
February 11, 2026 at 2:35 AM
Helluva statement from Colorado Rep Crow (D) on the Trump administration's failure to indict him and others
Reposted by Scott Santens
Ireland’s basic income for the arts scheme becomes permanent
When piloted, initiative that provided €325 a week to eligible artists recouped more than its net cost, study shows
When piloted, initiative that provided €325 a week to eligible artists recouped more than its net cost, study shows
Ireland’s basic income for the arts scheme becomes permanent
When piloted, initiative that provided €325 a week to eligible artists recouped more than its net cost, study shows
www.theguardian.com
February 10, 2026 at 10:42 PM
Ireland’s basic income for the arts scheme becomes permanent
When piloted, initiative that provided €325 a week to eligible artists recouped more than its net cost, study shows
When piloted, initiative that provided €325 a week to eligible artists recouped more than its net cost, study shows
Reposted by Scott Santens
🚨 BREAKING: Lawmakers say today that Trump’s personal lawyers: Bondi, Blanche and Patel — withheld or redacted an estimated 95% of references to Donald Trump in the Epstein files!!!!!
This is roughly 950,000 of 1M+ mentions, per staff calculations.
This is roughly 950,000 of 1M+ mentions, per staff calculations.
February 10, 2026 at 8:50 PM
🚨 BREAKING: Lawmakers say today that Trump’s personal lawyers: Bondi, Blanche and Patel — withheld or redacted an estimated 95% of references to Donald Trump in the Epstein files!!!!!
This is roughly 950,000 of 1M+ mentions, per staff calculations.
This is roughly 950,000 of 1M+ mentions, per staff calculations.
Reposted by Scott Santens
H.R. 6644, the Housing for the 21st Century Act, passed the House tonight 390–9, a rare bipartisan moment in an increasingly partisan World.
The bill modernizes federal housing programs, expands financing tools & cuts red tape to help boost housing supply nationwide.
The bill modernizes federal housing programs, expands financing tools & cuts red tape to help boost housing supply nationwide.
February 10, 2026 at 1:44 AM
H.R. 6644, the Housing for the 21st Century Act, passed the House tonight 390–9, a rare bipartisan moment in an increasingly partisan World.
The bill modernizes federal housing programs, expands financing tools & cuts red tape to help boost housing supply nationwide.
The bill modernizes federal housing programs, expands financing tools & cuts red tape to help boost housing supply nationwide.
Reposted by Scott Santens
Big update -- read our latest newsletter
Major UBI Skeptic Flipped, Plus We Went Viral with a Nobel Laureate Couple
www.ubiworks.ca/blog/ubi-wor...
Major UBI Skeptic Flipped, Plus We Went Viral with a Nobel Laureate Couple
www.ubiworks.ca/blog/ubi-wor...
Major UBI Skeptic Flipped, Plus We Went Viral with a Nobel Laureate Couple
UBI Works Newsletter, Feb 2026
www.ubiworks.ca
February 10, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Big update -- read our latest newsletter
Major UBI Skeptic Flipped, Plus We Went Viral with a Nobel Laureate Couple
www.ubiworks.ca/blog/ubi-wor...
Major UBI Skeptic Flipped, Plus We Went Viral with a Nobel Laureate Couple
www.ubiworks.ca/blog/ubi-wor...
Reposted by Scott Santens
i think anyone who's opposed to UBI should have to try signing up for any government benefits program even once. shit is genuinely evil. oh you need food assistance? ok prove to us you're a Deserving Poor. if you don't work you don't get help. if you can't work then get fucked i guess
February 10, 2026 at 5:13 PM
i think anyone who's opposed to UBI should have to try signing up for any government benefits program even once. shit is genuinely evil. oh you need food assistance? ok prove to us you're a Deserving Poor. if you don't work you don't get help. if you can't work then get fucked i guess
Reposted by Scott Santens
NEW: ICE is leasing offices throughout the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign. WIRED is publishing dozens of these locations.
ICE Is Expanding Across the US at Breakneck Speed. Here’s Where It’s Going Next
ICE plans to lease offices throughout the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign. WIRED is publishing dozens of these locations.
www.wired.com
February 10, 2026 at 4:07 PM
NEW: ICE is leasing offices throughout the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign. WIRED is publishing dozens of these locations.
Reposted by Scott Santens
This is starting to get like universal basic income where every single objective study shows the same result but the people who don't like that result go "uh, well there's just really no way to know"
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW: “.. In our in-progress research, we discovered that AI tools didn’t reduce work, they consistently intensified it.”
hbr.org/2026/02/ai-d...
hbr.org/2026/02/ai-d...
February 10, 2026 at 3:06 PM
This is starting to get like universal basic income where every single objective study shows the same result but the people who don't like that result go "uh, well there's just really no way to know"
Reposted by Scott Santens
"A modern-day concentration camp ... People have been killed by the staff here." Irish citizen Seamus Culleton has been in ICE detention since September, despite having a valid work permit and his own business in the US.
February 10, 2026 at 10:09 AM
"A modern-day concentration camp ... People have been killed by the staff here." Irish citizen Seamus Culleton has been in ICE detention since September, despite having a valid work permit and his own business in the US.
Things can be so much better than they are. As part of fighting back all the unnecessary horrors going on at present, let us build that better future that goes far beyond the prior status quo. Universal basic income and healthcare are moral imperatives. We are so far beyond any need for deprivation.
February 10, 2026 at 3:41 PM
Things can be so much better than they are. As part of fighting back all the unnecessary horrors going on at present, let us build that better future that goes far beyond the prior status quo. Universal basic income and healthcare are moral imperatives. We are so far beyond any need for deprivation.
Reposted by Scott Santens
See, THIS is my argument for UBI. Allow everyone the time and space to create things that make people happy!
February 10, 2026 at 10:41 AM
See, THIS is my argument for UBI. Allow everyone the time and space to create things that make people happy!
Reposted by Scott Santens
Details of the Basic Income for the Arts scheme for later this year announced.
It will be available to 2000 new applicants with the existing 2000 elligible artists able to apply also.
nialler9.com/details-of-t...
It will be available to 2000 new applicants with the existing 2000 elligible artists able to apply also.
nialler9.com/details-of-t...
Details of the Basic Income for the Arts scheme 2026 announced | Nialler9
“The introduction of Basic Income for the Arts underscores the premise that Government investment in the arts yields myriad positive benefits to
nialler9.com
February 10, 2026 at 2:15 PM
Details of the Basic Income for the Arts scheme for later this year announced.
It will be available to 2000 new applicants with the existing 2000 elligible artists able to apply also.
nialler9.com/details-of-t...
It will be available to 2000 new applicants with the existing 2000 elligible artists able to apply also.
nialler9.com/details-of-t...
Reposted by Scott Santens
And when we redistribute those resources, some have to go to healthcare (universal healthcare), some have to go to basic sustenance (UBI), and some have to go to public education, which includes both a robust independent media as well as media literacy.
February 10, 2026 at 6:29 AM
And when we redistribute those resources, some have to go to healthcare (universal healthcare), some have to go to basic sustenance (UBI), and some have to go to public education, which includes both a robust independent media as well as media literacy.
Reposted by Scott Santens
WATCH — @balint.house.gov on the unredacted Epstein files: “There’s a bunch of sick fucks… so many people knew…. Trump never kicked Epstein out of Mar-A-Lago. That’s a lie.”
(From @dropsitenews.com )
(From @dropsitenews.com )
February 10, 2026 at 6:10 AM
WATCH — @balint.house.gov on the unredacted Epstein files: “There’s a bunch of sick fucks… so many people knew…. Trump never kicked Epstein out of Mar-A-Lago. That’s a lie.”
(From @dropsitenews.com )
(From @dropsitenews.com )
Reposted by Scott Santens
When Texas lawmakers tried to visit 33-year-old “political prisoner” Leqaa Kordia at an ICE facility, she’d already lost 50 pounds and was running a high fever.
By Friday, she was hospitalized. But her family still has not been able to locate her.
thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/09/l...
By Friday, she was hospitalized. But her family still has not been able to locate her.
thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/09/l...
‘Political Prisoner’ Leqaa Kordia Has Been Hospitalized, DHS Says. After Calling 16 Hospitals, Her Lawyers Say They Can't Find Her.
The Columbia University protester had a fever when lawmakers tried to visit her last month — and her health is declining fast.
thebarbedwire.com
February 9, 2026 at 7:25 PM
When Texas lawmakers tried to visit 33-year-old “political prisoner” Leqaa Kordia at an ICE facility, she’d already lost 50 pounds and was running a high fever.
By Friday, she was hospitalized. But her family still has not been able to locate her.
thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/09/l...
By Friday, she was hospitalized. But her family still has not been able to locate her.
thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/09/l...
Reposted by Scott Santens
1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken.
Hundreds of kids are still detained.
We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
Hundreds of kids are still detained.
We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
February 9, 2026 at 12:25 PM
1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken.
Hundreds of kids are still detained.
We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
Hundreds of kids are still detained.
We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
Reposted by Scott Santens
Things that will actually help and protect kids:
- gun control
- universal healthcare
- better education about how to keep themselves safe
- actually holding people who harm kids accountable
- giving kids more accessible resources to reach for when they *do* need help
- UBI
- free school lunches
- gun control
- universal healthcare
- better education about how to keep themselves safe
- actually holding people who harm kids accountable
- giving kids more accessible resources to reach for when they *do* need help
- UBI
- free school lunches
February 9, 2026 at 9:00 PM
Things that will actually help and protect kids:
- gun control
- universal healthcare
- better education about how to keep themselves safe
- actually holding people who harm kids accountable
- giving kids more accessible resources to reach for when they *do* need help
- UBI
- free school lunches
- gun control
- universal healthcare
- better education about how to keep themselves safe
- actually holding people who harm kids accountable
- giving kids more accessible resources to reach for when they *do* need help
- UBI
- free school lunches
Reposted by Scott Santens
I got a taste of what a creative life could be during covid lockdown when I was fortunate enough to not need to work and getting the pua for almost a year. That was the most creative I've ever been allowed to be. Ubi would be such a game changer
February 9, 2026 at 9:54 PM
I got a taste of what a creative life could be during covid lockdown when I was fortunate enough to not need to work and getting the pua for almost a year. That was the most creative I've ever been allowed to be. Ubi would be such a game changer
Reposted by Scott Santens
Is anyone else mad at the fact that they have to pay federal taxes for bullshit they don't want? Like new ballrooms, the Gestapo, child torture, and human trafficking.
I wanna pay for education, social services, UBI, and universal health care! I'm so gotdamn mad right now, I need to lie down.
I wanna pay for education, social services, UBI, and universal health care! I'm so gotdamn mad right now, I need to lie down.
February 10, 2026 at 12:21 AM
Is anyone else mad at the fact that they have to pay federal taxes for bullshit they don't want? Like new ballrooms, the Gestapo, child torture, and human trafficking.
I wanna pay for education, social services, UBI, and universal health care! I'm so gotdamn mad right now, I need to lie down.
I wanna pay for education, social services, UBI, and universal health care! I'm so gotdamn mad right now, I need to lie down.
It is crystal clear that they simply don't want any immigrants at all. None.
Irish man with valid US work permit held in ICE detention for five months
Seamus Culleton has lived in US for two decades, married a citizen and runs a plastering business but faces deportation
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Seamus Culleton has lived in US for two decades, married a citizen and runs a plastering business but faces deportation
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Irish man with valid US work permit held in ICE detention for five months
Seamus Culleton has lived in US for two decades, married a citizen and runs a plastering business but faces deportation
www.theguardian.com
February 9, 2026 at 10:58 PM
It is crystal clear that they simply don't want any immigrants at all. None.