Scott Santens

@scottsantens.com

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Unconditional/Universal #BasicIncome (#UBI) advocate with a crowdfunded basic income floor (http://patreon.com/scottsantens)

Founder & President, ITSAfoundation.org

Author of Let There Be Money: https://amzn.to/30sCdCc

Read my UBI FAQ: scottsantens.com

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Fresh results from yet another successful basic income pilot. This time in Baltimore where 200 young parents received $1k/mo. After one year compared to control: Employment rates ⬆️ Incomes from work ⬆️ College and trade school ⬆️ Living with parents ⬇️ www.guaranteedincomeworks.org/data-from-ba...

New ITSA Foundation newsletter out today for June. Discover the top headlines about universal basic income you may have missed with quick summaries and links. itsanewsletter.beehiiv.com/p/itsa-newsl...

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Scott Santens

The premise of the show is that the town of Glantontown is the location of a universal basic income pilot program where everyone in the town gets the $3,000/mo UBI. Seems the town is chosen for the UBI pilot because its primary employer, a hot dog factory, goes fully automated.

Stop trying to make poverty so complicated. It's a lack of money. Just move people above the poverty line with an unconditional universal basic income floor set at the poverty line or higher. Tax the rich more so that even though they get the UBI too, their after-tax incomes go down vs up.

Universal basic income mitigates tunneling, meaning that people are more able to think beyond just one focus. The need to earn survival income tends to function like blinders that block out everything else but your focus on basic needs. Until they're obtained, can't think beyond.

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there whose work goes unrecognized as work because it isn't paid, despite civilization not existing without that work, and yet who are told to fill out forms to prove they are working or seeking work in order to obtain help when they need it.

Let's bust another myth wide open: Universal basic Income isn't a handout; it's a ladder. It's about giving us all the rungs we need to climb out of the cycle of survival mode and into lives where we can truly thrive. Let’s build a society where no one has to start at level 0 with nothing.

People with unconditional basic income reach for the key. They are free to think about things beyond their basic needs. We have a society full of people reaching for the bread because it's all they're free to think about, and as long as that's true, they'll never be truly free.

Anyone who has ever dealt with the bureaucracy of proving you are in sufficient need of assistance to get assistance should recognize how huge of a difference unconditional basic income would make in our times of greatest need.

A pilot in Vancouver that provided unconditional cash to homeless people not only saved more money than it cost; it also reduced drug and alcohol use by 39%. In the India Universal Basic Income pilot, where entire villages got UBI, drug and alcohol use went down by 12% compared to control villages.

A natural basic income experiment began in the mid-1990s and how the kids — now in their 30s and 40s — are doing is incredible. As adults, they have fewer drug problems and their average IQ is higher. By age 26, the benefits of the UBI exceeded its cost by 3-to-1. academicminute.org/2014/06/jane...

Fresh results from another guaranteed basic income pilot. This time from Seattle's King County where 102 people got $500/mo for 10 months. Employment nearly doubled from 37% to 66% Average income from jobs went up by $410/mo Retirement plans nearly tripled www.seakingwdc.org/latest-news/...

Unconditional basic income is how to best counter this. Someone with UBI can refuse a job until the offer is good enough. It can also subsidize the offers that aren't good enough but where someone really wants to do the job anyway for reasons other than just money, like teaching.

Let's flip the script on Universal Basic Income fears: What if UBI isn't the end of ambition, but the beginning of fulfillment? Imagine a world where people engage in work that they CHOOSE, not because they're scared of going hungry, but because they like the pay or the work.

Happy Easter, everyone! Did you know that on Easter Sunday in 2020, the Pope himself expressed his support for Universal Basic Income? His support is grounded in recognizing unpaid care work and empowering all workers with the power to refuse low wages.

New results from another completed basic income pilot. This one was in Cambridge, MA where 130 people got $500/mo for 18 months. Did they work less? No. They worked MORE. Recipients went from 36% FT employed to 40%. Those who didn't get it went from 30% to 28%. cambridgecf.org/research-on-...

I love this visualization. Unconditional Basic Income would dramatically change the lower half, but I'm not sure how best to portray it. How would you redraw this to reflect UBI? Does UBI change the angle? Is UBI rock-climbing gear? Is UBI a raised starting platform or a ladder?

I personally do not in any way care if a percentage of free people choose to just live on their basic income. Every single person earning any additional money will have more total income than them and thus enjoy a greater share of total economic output than them. UBI is a FLOOR.

Results are now out for the guaranteed basic income pilot in Paterson, New Jersey where 110 people got $400/mo for a year. Pilot participants increased their incomes significantly to $24,810 from an average of $16,604. The control group ended up at $19,078. finance.yahoo.com/news/paterso...

Universal Basic Income will be the floor beneath the tightrope of life - always there, ready to catch you if you fall. You'd have the confidence to take risks without fear of absolute destitution. UBI is about creating an environment of safety, and from safety comes creativity, innovation.

Two headlines, one truth. Basic income works. Those who want to ban experiments know the results will be positive. That's why they want to ban them. They are scared. They are scared of a future where they wield less power over others, where freedom is real vs a marketing slogan.

The path to truly equal opportunity begins with a level playing field. Unconditional basic income provides this, ensuring every individual can meet their basic Maslow's pyramid needs. It's not a silver bullet for all societal ills - but it is an essential part of the solution.

Me: We should do unconditional basic income. Random conservative: "But it's socialism!" Random socialist: "But it's not socialism!" It's so tiring. People support and oppose UBI on all sides of the political spectrum. Take off your polarized glasses and see that IT JUST WORKS.

Fresh basic income pilot results, this time from Arlington, Virginia where 200 people got $500 a month for 2 years. The findings: Employment INCREASED by 16%, and their incomes from paid work INCREASED by 37%. The control group saw no such gains. www.arlnow.com/2024/02/06/r...

Notice that having money creates the ability to earn more money. Money can even earn money, while lacking money can serve as a barrier to earning any money. Thus, everyone should start each month with a basic amount of money to make sure no one is prevented from earning any money.

Remember when middle class life meant 40 hours, not over 40, and just one job-holder, not multiple jobs in a household? We're working more for less. It's time we consider Universal Basic Income as a long overdue adjustment to an economy leaving most of us behind. Let's all get an equal slice of GDP.

Halfway results from the Minneapolis guaranteed basic income pilot are in. This one is a randomized controlled trial evaluated by the Minneapolis Fed. 200 people get $500/mo for 2 years. Cash recipients ARE NOT WORKING LESS than the control group. www.minneapolisfed.org/article/2024...

Results are out for the guaranteed basic income pilot in Austin where 135 people got $1,000/mo for a year. 9% of people reported working less and 7% reported working more. Of those who worked less, half upskilled for better future jobs, and half chose unpaid care work.

Housing security also significantly increased, as did food security. People lived in better housing and ate more balanced meals. Importantly, people also felt significantly more connected to the people and places in their neighborhoods. www.urban.org/research/pub...

Kudos to Marianne Williamson for adding Basic Income to her policy platform. "This new program would pay out a benefit equal to the individual poverty line, currently $1,215 per month in the contiguous United States, to every working-age adult with no exceptions." marianne2024.com/issues/unive...