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
"The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct, and immediate abolition of poverty." — Martin Luther King Jr.
About MLK's advocacy for basic income
It is not as widely known as it should be, but Martin Luther King Jr. wrote and spoke about the need for an unconditional basic income before he was killed. Here is a video of him speaking about UBI at Stanford in 1967.
One of the answers it seems to me, is a guaranteed annual income, a guaranteed minimum income for . . .
One Thing to Build a More Open World: Unconditional Basic Income (UBI)
A one-minute case for the power to say NO
The video below was created for The Economist's Open Future contest where everyone has one minute to change the world. This is my minute.
The one thing I would change is no power to say NO...
No. I will not work for a poverty wage. No. I will not be abused. No. I will not be dominated, or controlled, or coerced . . .
Posted in: moral argumenttranscriptvideovoluntary labor
The Monsters, Inc. Argument for Unconditional Basic Income
How to convert an economy based on fear to one based on joy
Every year since 2002, there is a North American Basic Income Guarantee Congress held in either the US or Canada. On the eve of this year’s NABIG in Hamilton, Ontario, I’d like to share with you my favorite presentation from 2017. It was a talk given by Ken Burak and it centered around the Pixar film “Monsters, Inc” as an argument for basic . . .
Posted in: analogybullshit jobschild povertyfearmoral argumentmotivationphilosophypovertyprivate propertyproductivityslaveryunpaid laborvoluntary labor
Someday we will look back and interpret the Constitution as having called for unconditional basic income all along
An open reply to Grant Cordone
A blog post by Grant Cordone was brought to my attention recently to which I replied on LinkedIn. To summarize what he wrote, it was an argument that basic income is not in the Constitution of the United States, and is thus anti-freedom and a terrible idea because people should be pulling on their bootstraps like he did instead of being . . .
A Basic Income Sermon for Christians
The moral argument for UBI by Reverend Dr. Roger Lee Ray of Community Christian Church
For some who are new to the idea of universal basic income, it may reflexively strike them as being somehow immoral. Be it seen as a form of theft, or in violation of the Protestant work ethic, or just plain feeling wrong, basic income can pose a challenge to those of faith. The following sermon makes the very strong Christian case that . . .
True Freedom Comes with Basic Income
I published a new article today on Medium titled "True Freedom Comes with Basic Income". An earlier version of this article was originally published over 18 months ago, but was removed and has been unavailable for over a year.
Excerpt:
“I can’t not do this, because I need the money…”—The thought underlying all . . .
The Disproportionate Effects of a Universal Basic Income
Can UBI function as reparations?
One very interesting but not so easy to understand element of universal basic income is how it disproportionately helps traditionally marginalized groups more than anyone else.
That sentence alone may be confusing. If everyone gets the same amount, how can one group benefit more than another group? Isn't the result really just . . .
