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Scott Santens
@scottsantens.com
28K followers 15K following 11K posts
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
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scottsantens.com
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. 🧵
OBSERVED EFFECTS OF UBI No significant reduction in labor supply (38 studies meta-analysis) Increased self-employment (301%) and part-time employment (17%) Slight decrease in alcohol and tobacco use (31 studies meta-analysis) New mothers extend their maternity leaves Birth weights improve due to better maternal nutrition Graduation rates and educational outcomes improve Hospitalization rates decline (8.5%) Crime goes down (15%–42%) especially illegal hunting (95%) Domestic violence decreases (30%–51%) Trust increases (13% in politicians | 6% in other people) Home ownership rates increase (17%–26%) Food security increases as does consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables Improved cognitive functioning (43%) and personality traits (31%) Savings go up, debts go down Source: scottsantens
Reposted by Scott Santens
krassenstein.bsky.social
BREAKING: Massive Crowds of Anti-ICE protesters in Minneapolis, Minnesota as we speak. The tide is turning. America is Fed Up.

Americans should be fighting back against what is happening in this country. Having masked, secret police shooting people, breaking into homes and cars, is NOT normal.
January 10, 2026 at 8:23 PM
Reposted by Scott Santens
indivisible.org
We the People will not sit by while our communities are terrorized and violence goes unanswered.

Find a peaceful protest or vigil this weekend to demand accountability for ICE’s horrific killing of Renee Nicole Good: www.mobilize.us?tag_ids=2913... #ICEOutForGood (video via NBC10 Philadelphia)
January 10, 2026 at 6:09 PM
scottsantens.com
This is how to make rents go up instead of down.
josephpolitano.bsky.social Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 1d
US construction job growth has ground to a practical halt over the last year, with the country losing jobs in homebuilding as the number of units under construction declines, while nonresidential job growth slowed significantly
January 10, 2026 at 3:48 PM
Reposted by Scott Santens
basicbc.bsky.social
The name "Universal" in UBI came in somewhere around 2004. The rest goes substantially further back:
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
Reposted by Scott Santens
basicincomebc.bsky.social
Did you know one of Canada’s most celebrated authors supported basic income in 1968?
Director of the School of Social Work, John Morgan, wrote that "the Welfare State is as out of date as the Model T." It still is. The various welfare services in Canada are ambulance services to rush in at the eleventh hour and apply splints to people already badly crippled. What is needed is a plan for preventative social medicine -- of which the guaranteed annual income might easily be the foundation...the advantages of such a systematic and planned attack on poverty ought to be obvious. Can we afford it? Surely the answer must be that we can no longer afford to ignore it. Pierre Berton from The Smug Minority (1968)
January 9, 2026 at 8:12 PM
Reposted by Scott Santens
electricarchaeo.scholar.social.ap.brid.gy
“Basic income acts like venture capital for regular people” … i like that frame.
https://www.scottsantens.com/the-200-year-experiment-how-a-privileged-basic-income-in-brazil-proves-we-can-afford-to-be-universal/
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 What if I told you that the Portuguese Empire accidentally ran one of the most comprehensive basic income experiments in human history? Not a one-year or two-year
www.scottsantens.com
January 9, 2026 at 10:19 PM
Reposted by Scott Santens
sbloom85.bsky.social
Dear #VoteBlueNoMatterWho, demand Democrats

Abolish ICE and prosecute its members and their supporters
Dismantle DHS
Repeal the Patriot Act
Pass Medicare For All
Increase the federal minimum wage to a living wage
Pass a UBI program
Shut down Gitmo
Reduce the military budget

BARE... MINIMUM!
January 10, 2026 at 12:17 AM
scottsantens.com
History wants us to remember to read something.
250yearsagonews.bsky.social 250 Years Ago News @250yearsagonews.bsky.social · 1d
Jan. 9, 1776: A 47-page pamphlet is published in Philadelphia that will alter the course of history. “Common Sense” by an anonymous writer calling himself “An Englishman”—Thomas Paine—takes up the once-unthinkable idea of American independence and concludes: “ 'TIS TIME TO PART.” 1/10
January 10, 2026 at 3:35 PM
Reposted by Scott Santens
superchaz.bsky.social
Rebuild the middle class instead of fattening the bloated billionaires. They horde wealth and sit on it. Middle class would spend it & keep the economic flow circulating.

It's just good business.

Bust monopolies.
Universal Basic Income.
Housing-first homelessness.
Support our veterans.
Childcare.
January 10, 2026 at 5:23 AM
Reposted by Scott Santens
erincandy.bsky.social
“Far left radical” and I just think everyone should get universal basic income

Far right radical wants everyone who isn’t white and straight and Christian eradicated from the planet.
January 10, 2026 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by Scott Santens
larryglickman.bsky.social
It's remarkable that Trump's claim that there are no constraints on his power other than his "own morality"--that he thinks he can govern as a dictator--proved to be a 1-day story, with no follow-up coverage in the New York Times, to whom he said this, or, as far as I can tell, any other newspaper.
January 10, 2026 at 1:21 PM
Reposted by Scott Santens
napoleonferrari.bsky.social
The whole country needs to take a few minutes to stop and realize how INSANE it is that the President of the United States ordered his administration to stop funding agriculture (ie FOOD) to an entire state because one his agents murdered a citizen there and people called it out.
chadbourn.bsky.social Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 1d
The US Department of Agriculture suspends all federal funding to Minnesota, effective immediately.
January 9, 2026 THE HONORABLE TIM WALZ Governor of Minesota 130 State Capitol 75 Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Bivd. St. Paul, MN 55155 THE HONORABLE JACOB FREY Mayor of the City of Minneapolis City Hail 350S. Fifth St., Room 330 Minneapolis, MN 55415 Dear Governor Walz and Mayor Frey, It is my responsibility as Secretary of Agriculture to ensure sound stewardship of taxpayer dollars by climinating fraud, waste and abuse in all programs funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The widespread and systemic fraud associated with federal benefit programs in the State of Minnesota and the City of Minneapolis demonstrate an inability to handle federal resources without additional oversight and accountability measures in place. During your tenures as Governor of Minnesota and Mayor of Minneapolis, numerous non-profits and businesses have defrauded the federal government in what a federal prosecutor in Minnesota called "a staggering, industrial-scale fraud".! Most notably, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit— Feeding Our Future defrauded U.S. taxpayers of nearly $250 million in federal funds given to them by the Minnesota Department of Education.? This fraud scheme involved USDA funding provided to the State of Minnesota to feed hungry children under the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). As of late November, 78 defendants had been charged in what the Department of Justice characterized as the largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country? Other recent examples of'alleged fraud in Minnesota include exploitation of the Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program", a scheme to defraud the Housing Stabilization 1-Whut te know about Minnesoca' "industrial-scale fraad" scandal, as more charges are fled and Trump weighs in, "CES Nows (Dic. 19, 3025) available at ht:/www.cbsnews.com/news/atas-do-know-alonesota-frawf-candal were-changes-fled- tump-water. /Federal Jury Finds Feeding Our Future Masternind and Co-D… Services Program", and alleged fraud in daycare centers*, Your Administrations have refused additional accountability and oversight, claiming that criticism of rampant fraud and abuse is "racist." While the full extent of fraud in Minnesota is not yet known, it is clear that, under your leadership- or lack thereof fraudsters can take advantage of federal funds and the American taxpayer with impunity. This necessitates federal action to protect taxpayer dollars until adequate safeguards can be established. Despite a staggering, wide-reaching fraud scandal, your Administrations refuse to provide basic information or take common sense mcasures to stop fraud. In fact, rather than conlin your SNAP rolls are accurate to prevent continuing fraud, you asked the courts to block USDA's directive to recertify the State's SNAP recipients. Recent news reports also emerged that the Minnesota Department of Human Services repeatedly reported incorrect information about SNAP to the federal government.? The Trump administration refuses to allow such fraud to continuc. Therefore, because of your failed Icadership and abysmal financial management oversight, 1 am notifying you that, effective immediately, I am suspending payments on all active awards and any future awards from USDA to the State of Minnesota and the City of Minneapolis, currently totaling over $129.18 million. Within 30 days, you shall provide USDA with payment justifications for all federal dollar expenditures from January 20, 2025, to the present. Going forward, all transactions on awards to the State of Minnesota or the City of Minneapolis will require such payment justification. If those payment justifications are not received, awards will remain suspended. While your Administrations have turned a blind eye to documented fraud, the Trump Administration has made clear that fraud, waste, and abuse are unacceptable. The American people deserve to know that their taxpayer dollars are helping those in need-not criminals. …
January 10, 2026 at 2:28 PM
Reposted by Scott Santens
indivisible.org
THIS WEEKEND: More than 1,000 marches and vigils are taking place nationwide to honor Renee Nicole Good, demand accountability for ICE’s killing of Renee, and make visible the human cost of ICE’s terror. Please join us: mobilize.us?tag_ids=2913...
(over a photo of protesters holding “ICE OUT” signs) ICE OUT FOR GOOD WEEKEND OF ACTION: JANUARY 10-11
January 10, 2026 at 1:18 PM
Reposted by Scott Santens
gregggonsalves.bsky.social
This is so incredibly heart-breaking. To Jay Bhattacharya and Matthew Memoli at NIH--you have betrayed the entire scientific community. Deeply committed staff are leaving in droves--because you are destroying the institution. Shame on you. www.statnews.com/2026/01/10/n...
The NIH has lost its scientific integrity. So we left
“We can no longer lend our credibility to an organization that has lost its integrity,” write four scientists and administrators who recently resigned from the NIH.
www.statnews.com
January 10, 2026 at 2:28 PM
Reposted by Scott Santens
ezralevin.bsky.social
On the eve of 1000+ rapid response "Ice Out for Good" protests, here's our generation's phil ochs/bob dylan/john prine/you get the idea. www.youtube.com/watch?v=El0C...
Good vs. Ice
YouTube video by Jesse Welles
www.youtube.com
January 10, 2026 at 4:09 AM
Reposted by Scott Santens
warmonitor.net
A career federal agent says that in 25 years, a fleeing vehicle has never justified killing its occupant, and officers should never stand in front of a running car. CBS reportedly pulled the interview, but it posted on YouTube.
www.youtube.com/watch?app=de...
Retired ICE agent breaks down deadly Minneapolis shooting
YouTube video by CBS Evening News
www.youtube.com
January 10, 2026 at 12:55 AM
Reposted by Scott Santens
mattgertz.bsky.social
Fox News claims to be airing the "entire video" -- but they're cutting off before the officer says, "fucking bitch."
January 9, 2026 at 9:17 PM
Reposted by Scott Santens
matthewdownhour.bsky.social
For a literal decade the official CBP policy has been “don’t stand in front of or behind vehicles” because the decade before that their internally commissioned studies found that agents were putting themselves in front of vehicles so as to shoot the occupants
matthewdownhour.bsky.social Matthew Downhour @matthewdownhour.bsky.social · 1d
Because he put himself in front of the car to have an excuse to shoot!
January 10, 2026 at 12:01 AM
scottsantens.com
I didn't know until this video that she also had a dog with her in the back seat. It's just more and more fucked up. He even switched his phone to his left hand right before his final pass in front of her car to free up his right hand for his gun.
meidastouch.com MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 1d
SHOCK CELL PHONE VIDEO: Renee Good's final words to her murderer: “That’s fine dude, I’m not mad at you.”

ICE agent Jonathan Ross after shooting and killing her seconds later: “Fuckin’ bitch.”

Via Alpha News
January 9, 2026 at 9:44 PM
Reposted by Scott Santens
davmicrot.bsky.social
Profoundly disturbing that Trump Regime released a video of a murderer: circling his victim who is exuding calm kindness to him, killing the victim as she tries to get away, calling her F*cking B*tch after he shoots her, and then Trump Regime loudly proclaiming how this exonerates murderer.
January 9, 2026 at 8:12 PM
Reposted by Scott Santens
asharangappa.bsky.social
This, combined with him *moving to the front of the car* and then reaching for, if not actually unholstering, his weapon before Good even begins moving forward deminstrates that the intention to shoot was not reactive to a threat posed by the vehicle
darthfos.bsky.social Trevor Foster @darthfos.bsky.social · 1d
Hand switch at the 29sec mark thus freeing up his right weapon side hand:
Exact moment he changes the phone from his right hand over to his left hand. Thus freeing up his weapon hand.
January 9, 2026 at 8:13 PM
Reposted by Scott Santens
adamkinzinger.substack.com
So an officer has his phone out recording obviously distracted, shoots a woman and calls her a “f’ing Bitch” and they think that HELPS the case?!?
January 9, 2026 at 8:20 PM
Reposted by Scott Santens
steefdeprouw.bsky.social
So, anything slighty deviating from current politics gets you labeled as radical, extreme or even terrorist.

What deviation makes you a radical terrorist?

Mine's that I am convinced that a universal basic income (UBI) would make things a lot better for many people.
January 8, 2026 at 6:51 PM
Reposted by Scott Santens
ubiworks.bsky.social
New data from New Leaf Expansion Project, which distributed $1M from 100+ donors to people experiencing homelessness in Vancouver.

The results were mindboggling.

21% higher wages
40% more nights in stable housing
85% more savings after 12 months

Direct cash works.
January 8, 2026 at 6:52 PM