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. 🧵
It's why universal unconditional basic income is so important. We have to win the power to say no to these people, and to even general strike. Survival must be taken off the table as a bargaining chip. It must become a right. Also why we need universal healthcare too.
widerquist.com/basic-income...
widerquist.com/basic-income...
February 11, 2026 at 8:54 PM
It's why universal unconditional basic income is so important. We have to win the power to say no to these people, and to even general strike. Survival must be taken off the table as a bargaining chip. It must become a right. Also why we need universal healthcare too.
widerquist.com/basic-income...
widerquist.com/basic-income...
Seems important. Impeachment time.
February 11, 2026 at 8:52 PM
Seems important. Impeachment time.
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.
So this is why Lutnick brought his kids and only stayed an hour. I SEE.
February 11, 2026 at 8:16 PM
So this is why Lutnick brought his kids and only stayed an hour. I SEE.
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
I expect more content like this after universal basic income and now consider it the sticky toffee pudding argument for UBI.
February 11, 2026 at 7:40 PM
I expect more content like this after universal basic income and now consider it the sticky toffee pudding argument for UBI.
I expect more content like this after universal basic income and now consider it the sticky toffee pudding argument for UBI.
February 11, 2026 at 7:40 PM
I expect more content like this after universal basic income and now consider it the sticky toffee pudding argument for UBI.
He called Gallup and asked to speak to the manager about his declining numbers. JFC.
February 11, 2026 at 7:37 PM
He called Gallup and asked to speak to the manager about his declining numbers. JFC.
JFC. He called Gallup and asked to speak to the manager.
February 11, 2026 at 7:34 PM
JFC. He called Gallup and asked to speak to the manager.
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.
It's a floor below which no one can fall. No conditions. That's freedom. That's power. It's the ability to say no to employers and demand more. It's the ability to volunteer and get grassroots candidates elected. Don't get stuck on the amount.
widerquist.com/basic-income...
widerquist.com/basic-income...
February 11, 2026 at 4:18 PM
It's a floor below which no one can fall. No conditions. That's freedom. That's power. It's the ability to say no to employers and demand more. It's the ability to volunteer and get grassroots candidates elected. Don't get stuck on the amount.
widerquist.com/basic-income...
widerquist.com/basic-income...
Reposted by Scott Santens
They keep doing studies on UBI and the answer keeps coming back, “It’s more than worth it.” Stunned by this outcome conservatives say, “that can’t be right. Let’s do another study.” Rinse and repeat.
February 11, 2026 at 2:11 AM
They keep doing studies on UBI and the answer keeps coming back, “It’s more than worth it.” Stunned by this outcome conservatives say, “that can’t be right. Let’s do another study.” Rinse and repeat.
Reposted by Scott Santens
Weird how they keep finding more money to fund the gestapo that is damaging job numbers by deporting workers but can't find any for a universal healthcare system that will save money, a free housing for homeless folk program that will save money, or universal basic income that'll boost the economy.
February 11, 2026 at 2:36 AM
Weird how they keep finding more money to fund the gestapo that is damaging job numbers by deporting workers but can't find any for a universal healthcare system that will save money, a free housing for homeless folk program that will save money, or universal basic income that'll boost the economy.
Reposted by Scott Santens
I want universal basic income, universal health care, buses and trains and livable wages and affordable rent, and I want my tax dollars to go towards that instead of billionaire-hosted rape festivals. Everyone does. That's not radical. It's survival.
Americans want to survive. Fucking help us.
Americans want to survive. Fucking help us.
February 11, 2026 at 5:51 AM
I want universal basic income, universal health care, buses and trains and livable wages and affordable rent, and I want my tax dollars to go towards that instead of billionaire-hosted rape festivals. Everyone does. That's not radical. It's survival.
Americans want to survive. Fucking help us.
Americans want to survive. Fucking help us.
If even just one more Jim Henson arises, it's more than worth it.
February 11, 2026 at 4:11 PM
If even just one more Jim Henson arises, it's more than worth it.
Reposted by Scott Santens
I know there are more nuanced takes and authoritative studies to reference, but the entirety of my argument for UBI is that we need 1000000% more people working on goofy lil' toys and weirdo puppets.
Never in my fucken life would I have imagined I’d be sending a strongly worded email at 1:00am to a group of dumbass corporate managers voicing my concerns regarding “time expenditure considerations” for my kitchen team
I’m just supposed to be making goofy lil’ toys and weirdo puppets
I’m just supposed to be making goofy lil’ toys and weirdo puppets
February 11, 2026 at 7:01 AM
I know there are more nuanced takes and authoritative studies to reference, but the entirety of my argument for UBI is that we need 1000000% more people working on goofy lil' toys and weirdo puppets.
Reposted by Scott Santens
A mock Onion headline I wrote a while back:
![[Text]
273rd UBI Trial Successful, Parliament Cautions "Need More Data"](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:jnwhlckbw7xogdsrmmibmbrj/bafkreibbrlqwybtgucqr3dpbmsxhu5x3zxtefo7uw2ky2vqqp67vu7376e@jpeg)
February 11, 2026 at 12:15 PM
A mock Onion headline I wrote a while back:
We need UBI regardless of AI. We should have started it 50 years ago when productivity first decoupled from wages. It is literally power to the People, which is why conservative billionaires have been finding statewide pilot bans across the country.
February 11, 2026 at 3:56 PM
We need UBI regardless of AI. We should have started it 50 years ago when productivity first decoupled from wages. It is literally power to the People, which is why conservative billionaires have been finding statewide pilot bans across the country.
But that's simply not true. Income isn't the only thing to tax. We can tax corporations, wealth, land, transactions, etc. And we also don't even technically need to tax to some degree because of the need to counterbalance against a deflationary spiral.
www.camecon.com/reports/the-...
www.camecon.com/reports/the-...
The Macroeconomics of Basic Income
New research looks at the macroeconomic effects of basic income in the UK, exploring how basic income schemes might operate and the role of basic income in unemployment caused by automation.
www.camecon.com
February 11, 2026 at 3:50 PM
But that's simply not true. Income isn't the only thing to tax. We can tax corporations, wealth, land, transactions, etc. And we also don't even technically need to tax to some degree because of the need to counterbalance against a deflationary spiral.
www.camecon.com/reports/the-...
www.camecon.com/reports/the-...