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
Basic Income as Liquid Infrastructure: The Bruce Lee Argument for UBI
"Be formless, shapeless, like water..."
"Be formless, shapeless, like water. You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put water into a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” - Bruce Lee
When most people hear Bruce Lee's words about the . . .
With UBI, won't people just watch TV and play video games?
The Tarantino Argument for Unconditional Basic Income
"If we give everyone basic income, people will do nothing but watch TV and play video games."
I've heard and read this more times than I can count over the years, and despite the evidence not supporting that concern at all, and even pointing in the opposite direction, and despite the fact that concern is . . .
New on Medium: "What is there to learn from Finland's basic income experiment? Did it succeed or fail?"
Understanding Finland's experiment of partial basic income and slightly fewer conditions
I've just published a new feature-length article over on Medium where I get into the preliminary results of the basic income experiment in Finland "What is There to Learn From Finland’s Basic Income Experiment? Did It Succeed or Fail?".
Here's an excerpt from the beginning:
After two years of . . .
Unconditional Basic Income Would Fix a Major Flaw in Markets
Markets can't tell the difference between a lack of demand and a lack of ability to express demand
Do you like markets? Well, whether you like them or not, they're pretty effective in most cases. The ability for two people to make an exchange where both feel they leave the exchange better off than prior to the exchange is a powerful thing. It's a form of democracy. By exchanging money for goods and services, people in markets are . . .
Basic Income and Soylent
Vouchers prevent choices. UBI creates choices.
Many of you reading this already know this, but for those who don't, I have a crowdfunded basic income. This means that I start every month with $1,000 as my absolute minimum for the month no matter what. I'm free to then earn any amount on top of that $1,000, but I never earn less than that in any given month. That's a basic . . .
Universal Basic Income Will Accelerate Innovation by Reducing Our Fear of Failure
New article published on Medium
I published a new article yesterday on Medium titled "Universal Basic Income Will Accelerate Innovation by Reducing Our Fear of Failure".
Excerpt:
What if our insistence on making people earn their living is preventing those one in ten thousand from making incredible achievements that would benefit all the rest of . . .
Giving Goods vs. Giving Money
A story of eggs, cash, and basic income
I love watching documentaries and one of my recent favorites on Netflix, aside from Noam Chomsky's "Requiem for the American Dream", is "Poverty, Inc." I highly recommend just watching the entire film yourself, but there is one story from it that is one of my new favorites to share onward, and that's the story by . . .
