Scott Santens
Writer and full-time advocate of unconditional basic income (UBI); Citizen of Earth and New Orleans; Bachelor of Science in Psychology; Editor of Basic Income Today
For Those Who Believe a Basic Income is Morally Wrong
You obviously have very strong feelings of morality, and especially the "rightness" of your own morality, so I'm certainly not about to attempt to change your mind, or to show how basic income can be seen as somehow being moral in your eyes.
However, I would like to ask you a series of questions in response, if . . .
Posted in: libertarianmoral argumentphilosophy
New Medium Article: How We Can Transform America’s Broken Economic System to Work for EVERYONE
Read the article I published on Medium on January 20th, 2015.
Summary: In this piece I provide an introduction to systems theory, where we are at as a country in 2015, how much we're already spending every year ($10+ trillion), how we can spend less, how the $3 trillion cost of basic income would actually save us more than it . . .
Posted in: costsmediumsavingssystems thinking
Wouldn't a basic income just be stealing from those who earned their money?
Basic income as compensation for property rights
This kind of question is built on the assumption that all money earned is earned fairly and justly, and all money taxed is both unfair and unjust.
Here's the thing, that idea of private property we take for granted as the foundation of just about everything? Perhaps we shouldn't just take it for granted. Now, by not taking it . . .
Yes, It Really is Different This Time
And Humans Already Need Not Apply
A conversation of increasing frequency, especially post-CGP Grey's excellent "Humans Need Not Apply":
Bill: We've been hearing about this technological unemployment crap for a long time. Every time someone has said, "It's different this time, " they've been wrong.
Ted: It's different . . .
Basic Income is Impossible
And so were all of these other ideas
"That's impossible."
No, I'm not quoting Luke Skywalker (although we certainly know he was wrong). I'm quoting a lot of people whose responses to the idea of basic income I've read since late 2013 when I subscribed to /r/BasicIncome on Reddit and started heavily studying it.
I don't only see . . .
What Can We Do to Grow the Basic Income Movement in 2015?
Make your voice heard
1...
I feel I've already somewhat answered this question in a recent blog post, so here again is that blog post:
5 Steps to Becoming a BIG Contributor
I firmly believe that in 2015 we need to focus on organizing local meetings. We have got to take this first step. This will be the first thing I do in 2015 and I . . .
Artist Brian Eno just learned about basic income and loves the idea
Here's a transcript of the recorded interview
Here's the podcast where he is interviewed by Georgina Godwin for a special edition of The Briefing. He starts talking about basic income at around 18m30s into it.
Transcript by me:
I'm always concerned about, more than anything else, the waste of human potential. That's the thing that upsets me. The waste . . .
