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
UBI is the equivalent of watering a plant so that it can survive and thrive.
We don't expect a plant to earn the right to live and grow, I don't see why that logic shouldn't also apply to humans.
We don't expect a plant to earn the right to live and grow, I don't see why that logic shouldn't also apply to humans.
February 12, 2026 at 9:02 PM
UBI is the equivalent of watering a plant so that it can survive and thrive.
We don't expect a plant to earn the right to live and grow, I don't see why that logic shouldn't also apply to humans.
We don't expect a plant to earn the right to live and grow, I don't see why that logic shouldn't also apply to humans.
Reposted by Scott Santens
Just realized, UBI could also increase volunteerism, as people wouldn't require the pay from those positions as desperately.
February 12, 2026 at 7:21 PM
Just realized, UBI could also increase volunteerism, as people wouldn't require the pay from those positions as desperately.
Universal basic income is not the ENTIRE solution. Of course we need other things too (like M4A) but it's the missing floor that can rise as GDP rises. Plus UBI will empower a lot of work, paid and unpaid, and create jobs by its spending. With that foundation we can better achieve what else we need.
February 12, 2026 at 7:02 PM
Universal basic income is not the ENTIRE solution. Of course we need other things too (like M4A) but it's the missing floor that can rise as GDP rises. Plus UBI will empower a lot of work, paid and unpaid, and create jobs by its spending. With that foundation we can better achieve what else we need.
Reposted by Scott Santens
The Trump administration is incarcerating migrant girls in, essentially, a forced pregnancy camp.
Trump administration is sending pregnant migrant girls to South Texas shelter flagged as medically inadequate
Government sources and advocates for the children worry the goal is to concentrate them in Texas, where abortion is banned.
www.kut.org
February 12, 2026 at 4:30 PM
The Trump administration is incarcerating migrant girls in, essentially, a forced pregnancy camp.
Reposted by Scott Santens
There it is: one of the first times anyone in the Trump admin has admitted that protestors & bystanders are legally permitted to protest & document DHS activity.... Just two days ago, this same crowd spent hours claiming DHS agents have been "under attack" in MSP & beyond...
under questioning by Rand Paul, ICE officials confirm that yelling at officers is not assault and recording officers is not a crime
February 12, 2026 at 5:19 PM
There it is: one of the first times anyone in the Trump admin has admitted that protestors & bystanders are legally permitted to protest & document DHS activity.... Just two days ago, this same crowd spent hours claiming DHS agents have been "under attack" in MSP & beyond...
Remember the monthly child tax credit in 2021 that was a basic income for 40 million families for six months? One of the results of that policy was that fewer parents sold their blood plasma.
February 12, 2026 at 6:02 PM
Remember the monthly child tax credit in 2021 that was a basic income for 40 million families for six months? One of the results of that policy was that fewer parents sold their blood plasma.
Reposted by Scott Santens
All I have to say to every politician in Canada is simply this , UBI now . UBI is that loud enough !!!!!
a close up of a man 's face with the words did you hear me
ALT: a close up of a man 's face with the words did you hear me
media.tenor.com
February 12, 2026 at 7:35 AM
All I have to say to every politician in Canada is simply this , UBI now . UBI is that loud enough !!!!!
Reposted by Scott Santens
I think I'd be more inclined to believe the worst predictions about AI replacing everybody if the people making the predictions were lobbying for universal basic incomes and expanded safety nets instead of giving them personally $20/month
February 12, 2026 at 12:50 PM
I think I'd be more inclined to believe the worst predictions about AI replacing everybody if the people making the predictions were lobbying for universal basic incomes and expanded safety nets instead of giving them personally $20/month
Reposted by Scott Santens
We really need Universal Basic Income 😐
February 12, 2026 at 4:19 PM
We really need Universal Basic Income 😐
Reposted by Scott Santens
Yay! First social security check has arrived in my bank account. Only makes me feel more strongly that we need UBI for everyone ...
February 11, 2026 at 6:56 PM
Yay! First social security check has arrived in my bank account. Only makes me feel more strongly that we need UBI for everyone ...
Reposted by Scott Santens
If you want AI proliferation, you must support Universal Basic Income. Otherwise, your ethics are compromised.
If we gave everyone subsistence, no, we wouldn't have a lazy society. There's no limit to what people might do if their basic needs were met... we'd have less peril and more innovation.
If we gave everyone subsistence, no, we wouldn't have a lazy society. There's no limit to what people might do if their basic needs were met... we'd have less peril and more innovation.
February 11, 2026 at 6:20 PM
If you want AI proliferation, you must support Universal Basic Income. Otherwise, your ethics are compromised.
If we gave everyone subsistence, no, we wouldn't have a lazy society. There's no limit to what people might do if their basic needs were met... we'd have less peril and more innovation.
If we gave everyone subsistence, no, we wouldn't have a lazy society. There's no limit to what people might do if their basic needs were met... we'd have less peril and more innovation.
Reposted by Scott Santens
Here's the person who's been nominated to replace Chrystia Freeland in the upcoming byelection
Dr. Danielle Martin, Family Medicine Chair at UofT who has prescribed basic income.
Dr. Danielle Martin, Family Medicine Chair at UofT who has prescribed basic income.
February 11, 2026 at 7:17 PM
Here's the person who's been nominated to replace Chrystia Freeland in the upcoming byelection
Dr. Danielle Martin, Family Medicine Chair at UofT who has prescribed basic income.
Dr. Danielle Martin, Family Medicine Chair at UofT who has prescribed basic income.
Reposted by Scott Santens
I think the best thing the left can do RE: AI is push as much regulation as they can and then say “Also let’s make human dignity job-independent”.
Good way to reframe uni healthcare, housing assistance, and maybe some form of basic income
Good way to reframe uni healthcare, housing assistance, and maybe some form of basic income
February 11, 2026 at 10:08 PM
I think the best thing the left can do RE: AI is push as much regulation as they can and then say “Also let’s make human dignity job-independent”.
Good way to reframe uni healthcare, housing assistance, and maybe some form of basic income
Good way to reframe uni healthcare, housing assistance, and maybe some form of basic income
Reposted by Scott Santens
I feel like people lowkey stopped talking about UBI for a couple years there. I did for sure. Time to bring that back
I understand why people are exhausted by AI hype, and why those of us squarely in the corner of "human dignity uber alles" see AI doomerism as self-serving hype, but I *really* think people on the left broadly need to start thinking seriously about the possibiltiy of the hype being...true.
February 11, 2026 at 11:57 PM
I feel like people lowkey stopped talking about UBI for a couple years there. I did for sure. Time to bring that back
Reposted by Scott Santens
UBI. Universal Basic Income. In every trial everywhere, it works. People are healthier, more engaged even more productive. It creates more & costs society less than picking up the pieces. Yet despite these results it's always another trial because the threat of destitution helps the rich feel safe.
February 12, 2026 at 12:29 AM
UBI. Universal Basic Income. In every trial everywhere, it works. People are healthier, more engaged even more productive. It creates more & costs society less than picking up the pieces. Yet despite these results it's always another trial because the threat of destitution helps the rich feel safe.
Reposted by Scott Santens
Every person deserves to have the means to be independent and have the autonomy to take care of their own needs.
Community and building support for each other is so meaningful, but being at the mercy of others to survive, no one wants if its not a choice.
This is why we need UBI.
Community and building support for each other is so meaningful, but being at the mercy of others to survive, no one wants if its not a choice.
This is why we need UBI.
February 12, 2026 at 1:08 AM
Every person deserves to have the means to be independent and have the autonomy to take care of their own needs.
Community and building support for each other is so meaningful, but being at the mercy of others to survive, no one wants if its not a choice.
This is why we need UBI.
Community and building support for each other is so meaningful, but being at the mercy of others to survive, no one wants if its not a choice.
This is why we need UBI.
Reposted by Scott Santens
“When Citizens United was decided in 2010, billionaires had spent $18 million on the 2000 election, $13M 2004 and $16M in 2008. Then came the deluge. In 2012 it was $231M, and nearly doubled again in next three election cycles —to $682M in 2016, $1.2 billion in 2020 and $2.6 billion in 2024.” Gift:
Opinion | Affordability and the ‘Epstein Class’ Will Define American Politics
www.nytimes.com
February 12, 2026 at 1:57 AM
“When Citizens United was decided in 2010, billionaires had spent $18 million on the 2000 election, $13M 2004 and $16M in 2008. Then came the deluge. In 2012 it was $231M, and nearly doubled again in next three election cycles —to $682M in 2016, $1.2 billion in 2020 and $2.6 billion in 2024.” Gift:
Reposted by Scott Santens
Some children in Dilley were so distraught they cut themselves or talked about suicide, parents told ProPublica.
They said kids lost their appetites after finding worms and mold on their food, had trouble sleeping, and were constantly sick.
They said kids lost their appetites after finding worms and mold on their food, had trouble sleeping, and were constantly sick.
The Kids Trump Sent to ICE’s Dilley Detention Center
ProPublica went inside the immigrant detention center for families in Dilley, Texas. Children held there told us about the anguish of being ripped from their lives in the United States and the fear of...
www.propublica.org
February 12, 2026 at 4:00 AM
Some children in Dilley were so distraught they cut themselves or talked about suicide, parents told ProPublica.
They said kids lost their appetites after finding worms and mold on their food, had trouble sleeping, and were constantly sick.
They said kids lost their appetites after finding worms and mold on their food, had trouble sleeping, and were constantly sick.
Reposted by Scott Santens
Breaking on MSNOW right now: the DOJ is tracking the search histories of Congresspeople in the unredacted Epstein files, and Pam Bondi is using those search histories in her Burn Book today.
This is surveillance of Democratic lawmakers as the review the Epstein files, and it is chilling.
This is surveillance of Democratic lawmakers as the review the Epstein files, and it is chilling.
February 11, 2026 at 8:21 PM
Breaking on MSNOW right now: the DOJ is tracking the search histories of Congresspeople in the unredacted Epstein files, and Pam Bondi is using those search histories in her Burn Book today.
This is surveillance of Democratic lawmakers as the review the Epstein files, and it is chilling.
This is surveillance of Democratic lawmakers as the review the Epstein files, and it is chilling.
Reposted by Scott Santens
Likely-historic photo by NBC News of all the Epstein victims asked to raise their hands if they've not yet been asked to meet with the DOJ as Bondi testifies in foreground
February 11, 2026 at 5:15 PM
Likely-historic photo by NBC News of all the Epstein victims asked to raise their hands if they've not yet been asked to meet with the DOJ as Bondi testifies in foreground
Reposted by Scott Santens
Army veteran who lived in U.S. legally for over 50 years deported after ICE arrest
Army veteran who lived in U.S. legally for over 50 years deported after ICE arrest
Godfrey Wade came to the U.S. legally in 1975 and served in the Army where he was honorably discharged.
www.mlive.com
February 11, 2026 at 7:06 PM
Army veteran who lived in U.S. legally for over 50 years deported after ICE arrest
Reposted by Scott Santens
this is a level of complicity that had not occurred to me
Gallup will no longer measure presidential approval after 88 years thehill.com/homenews/med...
February 11, 2026 at 7:28 PM
this is a level of complicity that had not occurred to me
Reposted by Scott Santens
This is the aftermath of an ICE kidnapping a few blocks from my home in St. Paul—an hour ago. A quiet street full of broken glass and at least three wrecked cars. The target of the kidnapping was taken away by ambulance. He was on a stretcher and covered by a sheet, though a cop said he was alive.
February 11, 2026 at 4:46 PM
This is the aftermath of an ICE kidnapping a few blocks from my home in St. Paul—an hour ago. A quiet street full of broken glass and at least three wrecked cars. The target of the kidnapping was taken away by ambulance. He was on a stretcher and covered by a sheet, though a cop said he was alive.
Reposted by Scott Santens
BREAKING: Pam Bondi appears to have just committed a federal crime by lying under oath.
Ted lieu just caught her in a lie and called for her resignation live on TV.
Ted lieu just caught her in a lie and called for her resignation live on TV.
February 11, 2026 at 5:03 PM
BREAKING: Pam Bondi appears to have just committed a federal crime by lying under oath.
Ted lieu just caught her in a lie and called for her resignation live on TV.
Ted lieu just caught her in a lie and called for her resignation live on TV.
It wasn't enough to ruin SNAP in all the ways most discussed like work requirements. EBT tech is outdated and they refuse to update it, making it easier to steal SNAP, and where they used to issue more funds in response to theft, now they don't and victims are just screwed.
UBI would be far better.
UBI would be far better.
SNAP Faces The 'Worst of All Worlds' - Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity
As SNAP recipients face the impacts of funding cuts and new work requirement guidelines passed by Congress and supported by the Trump administration, an added worry is outdated EBT card technology tha...
spotlightonpoverty.org
February 11, 2026 at 4:31 PM
It wasn't enough to ruin SNAP in all the ways most discussed like work requirements. EBT tech is outdated and they refuse to update it, making it easier to steal SNAP, and where they used to issue more funds in response to theft, now they don't and victims are just screwed.
UBI would be far better.
UBI would be far better.