Tom Pogson
@basicbc.bsky.social
Musician, writer, and Basic Income Victoria BC Guy who knows the abundance of a better world IS possible.
https://linktr.ee/Basicbc
https://linktr.ee/Basicbc
Pinned
Tom Pogson
@basicbc.bsky.social
· Dec 1
Explore the usual questions at www.scottsantens.com/basic-income...
Link also in bio.
Guy Standing also goes through them with a chapter on both "how to pay for it" and "won't people quit?" In his book "Basic Income and How We Can Make it Happen" (2015 Pelican Books.)
Link also in bio.
Guy Standing also goes through them with a chapter on both "how to pay for it" and "won't people quit?" In his book "Basic Income and How We Can Make it Happen" (2015 Pelican Books.)
Reposted by Tom Pogson
Debbie is an active community member that helps out and contributes to her community.
Kokum gifts accepted - E-transfer
[email protected]
Kokum gifts accepted - E-transfer
[email protected]
As month end approaches, I have to post our reminder that we gratefully accept kokum gifts that help us and many others survive right now. I live on a small pension raising teens and it helps so much to have beautiful souls who care about us. It is a lot to overcome alone. Love to all this day💞🪶
January 11, 2026 at 12:43 AM
Debbie is an active community member that helps out and contributes to her community.
Kokum gifts accepted - E-transfer
[email protected]
Kokum gifts accepted - E-transfer
[email protected]
Finally got my copy.
Time to see the cat.
🐈⬛
Time to see the cat.
🐈⬛
January 11, 2026 at 12:24 AM
Finally got my copy.
Time to see the cat.
🐈⬛
Time to see the cat.
🐈⬛
Bill Gates on the future of work: “We weren’t born to do jobs.”
YouTube video by Imagine AI Live
youtube.com
January 10, 2026 at 6:58 PM
We are in a perfect storm, 40 years in the making.
Basic income isnt about free money.
If anything it's about getting your money back, through reinvestment in where it should have gone all along.
youtube.com/shorts/7QkIx...
Basic income isnt about free money.
If anything it's about getting your money back, through reinvestment in where it should have gone all along.
youtube.com/shorts/7QkIx...
Are we in an age of rentier capitalism? | Economist Guy Standing
YouTube video by The Institute of Art and Ideas
youtube.com
January 10, 2026 at 6:49 PM
We are in a perfect storm, 40 years in the making.
Basic income isnt about free money.
If anything it's about getting your money back, through reinvestment in where it should have gone all along.
youtube.com/shorts/7QkIx...
Basic income isnt about free money.
If anything it's about getting your money back, through reinvestment in where it should have gone all along.
youtube.com/shorts/7QkIx...
Reposted by Tom Pogson
When we talk about crime we never talk about wage theft or illegal evictions or violations of health, safety, workplace or environmental laws
www.interruptingcriminalization.com/resources-al...
www.interruptingcriminalization.com/resources-al...
Shoplifting: Corporate Copaganda — Interrupting Criminalization
A resource on how claims of a “shoplifting surge” by corporations and the media is copaganda, Read about the rise of private security and why it is essential that we strip the power of corporations to...
www.interruptingcriminalization.com
January 10, 2026 at 1:22 AM
When we talk about crime we never talk about wage theft or illegal evictions or violations of health, safety, workplace or environmental laws
www.interruptingcriminalization.com/resources-al...
www.interruptingcriminalization.com/resources-al...
Reposted by Tom Pogson
Yeah? So when basic income??
Elon Musk is Wrong About Basic Income and Crime: Here is the Pile of Evidence He Ignored
Why Elon Musk is wrong about the Finland experiment, and why we must stop ignoring the massive body of evidence that proves poverty is a policy choice that drives crime
There is a Zombie Lie circul...
www.scottsantens.com
January 10, 2026 at 3:42 PM
Yeah? So when basic income??
The name "Universal" in UBI came in somewhere around 2004. The rest goes substantially further back:
youtu.be/cXeWQ7siElU?...
youtu.be/cXeWQ7siElU?...
Philippe van Parijs on the History of Basic Income
YouTube video by Basic Income Earth Network BIEN
youtu.be
January 9, 2026 at 8:09 PM
The name "Universal" in UBI came in somewhere around 2004. The rest goes substantially further back:
youtu.be/cXeWQ7siElU?...
youtu.be/cXeWQ7siElU?...
The Canada Disability Benefit should have been an easy slam dunk. For some reason getting it done took years, minimal reporting and it was quietly shuffled to one side.
So, do we see ourselves as human beings or human doings? Do we value people first, or only by if they work jobs?
So, do we see ourselves as human beings or human doings? Do we value people first, or only by if they work jobs?
January 8, 2026 at 7:51 PM
The Canada Disability Benefit should have been an easy slam dunk. For some reason getting it done took years, minimal reporting and it was quietly shuffled to one side.
So, do we see ourselves as human beings or human doings? Do we value people first, or only by if they work jobs?
So, do we see ourselves as human beings or human doings? Do we value people first, or only by if they work jobs?
Reposted by Tom Pogson
Unconditional basic income is "fuck that job" money.
Want a more ethical society? Start by making all jobs voluntary.
Want a more ethical society? Start by making all jobs voluntary.
"They were doing their jobs"
It's a bad job... Fuck that job
It's a bad job... Fuck that job
January 8, 2026 at 6:28 PM
Unconditional basic income is "fuck that job" money.
Want a more ethical society? Start by making all jobs voluntary.
Want a more ethical society? Start by making all jobs voluntary.
If over the next 5 years things get even more expensive, more difficult, less paying, more financialized than they already are...
will we THEN stick up for each other and demand something like basic income?
will we THEN stick up for each other and demand something like basic income?
January 8, 2026 at 7:33 PM
If over the next 5 years things get even more expensive, more difficult, less paying, more financialized than they already are...
will we THEN stick up for each other and demand something like basic income?
will we THEN stick up for each other and demand something like basic income?
"My existence does not require punishment"
Interesting talk on the shame and psychology around receiving aid with basic income as its ultimate end of unconditionality.
youtu.be/OJ3VPjpYBIo?...
Interesting talk on the shame and psychology around receiving aid with basic income as its ultimate end of unconditionality.
youtu.be/OJ3VPjpYBIo?...
Welfare Stigma, Shame and Universal Guaranteed Basic Income
YouTube video by Neter Spiritual
youtu.be
January 8, 2026 at 7:18 AM
"My existence does not require punishment"
Interesting talk on the shame and psychology around receiving aid with basic income as its ultimate end of unconditionality.
youtu.be/OJ3VPjpYBIo?...
Interesting talk on the shame and psychology around receiving aid with basic income as its ultimate end of unconditionality.
youtu.be/OJ3VPjpYBIo?...
Reposted by Tom Pogson
Meanwhile, in Scotland: "What began as something so outlandish and so seemingly utopian that we might as well have promised the Moon and the stars has reached the point where, in theory at least, there is a parliamentary majority in favour of the principle of a UBI."
'At 8% of GDP, Scotland’s UBI would translate to around £3200 per person per year, or £60 per week...
Even smaller payments, such as the £27.15 per week Scottish Child Payment, have made a massive difference to those who receive them.'
@thecommongreen.scot, via The National
archive.ph/T0xqX
Even smaller payments, such as the £27.15 per week Scottish Child Payment, have made a massive difference to those who receive them.'
@thecommongreen.scot, via The National
archive.ph/T0xqX
January 7, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Meanwhile, in Scotland: "What began as something so outlandish and so seemingly utopian that we might as well have promised the Moon and the stars has reached the point where, in theory at least, there is a parliamentary majority in favour of the principle of a UBI."
What is controversial about basic income is also what's powerful about it:
The widening of life with the trust and choice of unconditionality.
The widening of life with the trust and choice of unconditionality.
January 7, 2026 at 7:30 PM
What is controversial about basic income is also what's powerful about it:
The widening of life with the trust and choice of unconditionality.
The widening of life with the trust and choice of unconditionality.
Please check out the various clips by this company that is pairing housing with unconditional cash support and how it makes such a difference:
youtu.be/zlYzkp4kk5A?...
youtu.be/zlYzkp4kk5A?...
Human Stories: Meet Martinique
YouTube video by Abode
youtu.be
January 7, 2026 at 5:42 AM
Please check out the various clips by this company that is pairing housing with unconditional cash support and how it makes such a difference:
youtu.be/zlYzkp4kk5A?...
youtu.be/zlYzkp4kk5A?...
Reposted by Tom Pogson
My disabled adult offspring in the USA gets half that. And only $250/month for food.
Means testing the elderly and disabled for access to needed services and supports is immoral and unethical.
Means testing the elderly and disabled for access to needed services and supports is immoral and unethical.
January 7, 2026 at 2:28 AM
My disabled adult offspring in the USA gets half that. And only $250/month for food.
Means testing the elderly and disabled for access to needed services and supports is immoral and unethical.
Means testing the elderly and disabled for access to needed services and supports is immoral and unethical.
Here is the most people in British Columbia on disability, a larger payment get than welfare, get monthly (most recent). Bearing in mind the Federal poverty line for a single person is around 2200/month.
January 6, 2026 at 10:57 PM
Here is the most people in British Columbia on disability, a larger payment get than welfare, get monthly (most recent). Bearing in mind the Federal poverty line for a single person is around 2200/month.
Reposted by Tom Pogson
(governments are forcibly committing the people they’ve harmed with the violence of poverty.
rather than addressing economic inequality)
rather than addressing economic inequality)
January 6, 2026 at 9:02 AM
(governments are forcibly committing the people they’ve harmed with the violence of poverty.
rather than addressing economic inequality)
rather than addressing economic inequality)
Reposted by Tom Pogson
New article from me today about a centuries-old policy in Brazil that has a lot to tell us about just how high a universal basic income can be set at without seeing the effects on employment that so many people assume.
The 200-Year Experiment: How a 'Privileged' Basic Income in Brazil Proves We Can Afford to Be Universal
From $500 to $15,000 a Month: How Decades of Data Prove That an Unconditional Basic Income Guarantee Fuels Ambition Instead of Laziness
open.substack.com
January 6, 2026 at 3:06 PM
New article from me today about a centuries-old policy in Brazil that has a lot to tell us about just how high a universal basic income can be set at without seeing the effects on employment that so many people assume.
With anything like this that seems out of the blue, especially if its asking you for details, check with @basicincomeearth.bsky.social
@scottsantens.com
@ubiworks.bsky.social
to see if we're talking about it. "Weekly" is also a bit of a 🚩 as noone calls it that.
@scottsantens.com
@ubiworks.bsky.social
to see if we're talking about it. "Weekly" is also a bit of a 🚩 as noone calls it that.
🚨 SCAM ALERT! 🚨
Viral social media videos and ads claiming “guaranteed weekly income” by using popular personalities’ images, voices, or names through AI-generated content are completely fake ❌
Viral social media videos and ads claiming “guaranteed weekly income” by using popular personalities’ images, voices, or names through AI-generated content are completely fake ❌
January 5, 2026 at 5:49 PM
With anything like this that seems out of the blue, especially if its asking you for details, check with @basicincomeearth.bsky.social
@scottsantens.com
@ubiworks.bsky.social
to see if we're talking about it. "Weekly" is also a bit of a 🚩 as noone calls it that.
@scottsantens.com
@ubiworks.bsky.social
to see if we're talking about it. "Weekly" is also a bit of a 🚩 as noone calls it that.
Reposted by Tom Pogson
Universal Basic Income now
The world’s 500 richest people have total wealth of $11.9tn.
Their wealth up by $2.2tn in 2025. 8 billionaires accounting for a 25% of the gains.
No one becomes this rich by working.
They fund right-wing parties, oppose worker/human rights, cause more pollution than normal people.
Their wealth up by $2.2tn in 2025. 8 billionaires accounting for a 25% of the gains.
No one becomes this rich by working.
They fund right-wing parties, oppose worker/human rights, cause more pollution than normal people.
Billionaires added record $2.2tn in wealth in 2025
Just eight billionaires accounted for a quarter of the gains, led by Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison and Larry Page
www.theguardian.com
January 1, 2026 at 8:54 AM
Universal Basic Income now
One of the challenges of advocating for basic income is the fact I live in a time when labour (as opposed to work) is put on a pedestal. So you are challenged to show that UBI won't negatively effect this.
It won't, but there's more:
youtube.com/shorts/CE1fA...
It won't, but there's more:
youtube.com/shorts/CE1fA...
Not all work is valued
YouTube video by Tom Pogson
youtube.com
January 4, 2026 at 4:41 PM
One of the challenges of advocating for basic income is the fact I live in a time when labour (as opposed to work) is put on a pedestal. So you are challenged to show that UBI won't negatively effect this.
It won't, but there's more:
youtube.com/shorts/CE1fA...
It won't, but there's more:
youtube.com/shorts/CE1fA...
Reposted by Tom Pogson
Imagine if they'd given CERB to everyone and taxed it back for those over a certain income, you know, like a universal basic income. This is just their own stupidity coming home to roost. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
CRA says it's owed $10 billion in COVID-related benefits sent to ineligible recipients | CBC News
Edmonton-based country singer Patrick Masse is in a protracted battle with the Canada Revenue Agency over COVID-related benefits. He received more than $41,000, only to be later told he has to pay the...
www.cbc.ca
December 30, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Imagine if they'd given CERB to everyone and taxed it back for those over a certain income, you know, like a universal basic income. This is just their own stupidity coming home to roost. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
The same people that scream at the cost of UBI seemingly give an instant, unwavering hall pass to the cost of illegal invasions.
I wasn't the first to say this.
I wasn't the first to say this.
January 3, 2026 at 5:17 PM
The same people that scream at the cost of UBI seemingly give an instant, unwavering hall pass to the cost of illegal invasions.
I wasn't the first to say this.
I wasn't the first to say this.
Reposted by Tom Pogson
On average the top CEOs in Canada take $7,800 an hour and get paid an average of $16M plus per year
www.ctvnews.ca/canada/artic...
www.ctvnews.ca/canada/artic...
January 3, 2026 at 1:37 AM
On average the top CEOs in Canada take $7,800 an hour and get paid an average of $16M plus per year
www.ctvnews.ca/canada/artic...
www.ctvnews.ca/canada/artic...