Scott Santens

@scottsantens.com

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Writer and Unconditional / Universal Basic Income (UBI) advocate Founder & CEO of UBI-focused nonprofit ITSAfoundation.org Sign and share the AI Pledge for Humanity for UBI: aipledgeforhumanity.org My UBI FAQ: scottsantens.com 📩 linktr.ee/scottsantens

Hunter Biden @HunterBiden I spent the last few months talking to people across the political spectrum, and to people who want nothing to do with politics at all. Here is what I learned. We are not a divided country. We are a country being divided, on purpose, by an American oligarchy that profits from the fight. They've captured our government, denied our healthcare, looted our treasury, and saddled us with crippling debt. I believe in a New New Deal. Healthcare as a human right. The right of every family to a decent home, and an end to endless wars. And a dividend paid to every American from the Al economy, because these machines were built on the whole of human inheritance. That inheritance belongs to all of us,
AI Pledge for Humanity quote graphic. On a cream background, text reads: “We need UBI if we have any chance of having a smooth transition from a labor centered economy to a technology centered economy. I have to wonder who is going to buy all the goods and services that fuel this economy when people don't have jobs to pay for things? Just saying.” At right, a person stands on a reflective beach facing a large black letter A. Footer reads: “Sign & share your own — aipledgeforhumanity.org.”
South Korea's Prime Minister Proposes Funding a Basic Income With the Country's Al and Semiconductor Wealth Iowa's Basic Income Pilot Raised Hope in a Way No Other U.S. Pilot Has A New Zealand Party Running on a $20,000 Basic Income Surges to the Edge of Parliament White House Officials Are Weighing Government Equity in Al Companies to Pay Households a Dividend Anthropic Becomes the Second Major Al Lab to Name Basic Income as an Answer to Al Job Loss Al Giants Put $500M Behind Worker Retraining That Mostly Fails - and the Org is Headed by a UBI Hater After the DOGE Layoffs, a Baltimore Man Built a Working Basic Income With His Neighbors
MARK TWAIN: "What I have done I have done, because it has been play. If it had been work I shouldn't have done it. Who was it who said, 'Blessed is the man who has found his work'? Whoever it was he had the right idea in his mind. Mark you, he says his work not somebody else's work. The work that is really a man's own work is play and not work at all. Cursed is the man who has found some other man's work and cannot lose it. When we talk about the great workers of the world we really mean the great players of the world. The fellows who groan and sweat under the weary load of toil that they bear never can hope to do anything great. How can they when their souls are in a ferment of revolt against the employment of their hands and brains? The product of slavery, intellectual or physical, can never be great."
Beige gradient quote card for “The AI Pledge for Humanity,” labeled “From a signer of the pledge.” The card reads: “In support of the pledge: If AI is going to have a positive effect on society, we have to have a UBI to secure us through job disruptions. This is our data and we deserve a significant share!” Footer text says “Sign & share your own” and “aipledgeforhumanity.org.”
It’s time for Democrats to take on the class war that’s being waged by the nation’s oligarchy against most Americans by becoming class warriors themselves. By class warrior I don’t mean resorting to violence or name-calling. I mean recognizing that a billionaire class is bad for America and calling for bold changes to reverse it: taxing great wealth, busting up monopolies, strengthening labor unions, raising the minimum wage, demanding profit-sharing and capital-sharing, ensuring Medicare for all and a universal basic income, and getting big money out of politics.
Measuring the Impact of AI on Productivity: Cross-Sectoral Evidence from the U.S. and Eighteen Other Economies Post-ChatGPT 76 Pages Posted: 28 Apr 2026 Last revised: 5 Jun 2026 Benjamin Verschuere Liminal Capital Angus Cameron Liminal Capital Date Written: April 27, 2026 Abstract We provide the first cross-country sectoral measurement of artificial intelligence’s contri- bution to trend productivity growth globally, identified from observed sectoral outcomes through 2025Q4 rather than from forecasts of diffusion. Using a panel difference-in- differences specification with AI exposure measured by the Workflow Completeness construct (C∗) of Verschuere and Cameron (2026a), we estimate that AI is contribut- ing approximately $1.26 trillion per year across the United States, the EU 12, and China combined at the end-of-2025 run-rate. The U.S. accounts for $878 billion (95 percent CI [$602B, $1,155B]) across five primary sectors covering roughly 54 percent of GDP, raising aggregate growth on this base to +5.0 percent per year against a +2.2 percent counterfactual. The EU 12 pooled panel contributes $138 billion (95 percent CI [$23B, $254B]) and China $240 billion (95 percent CI [$116B, $365B]). The result holds under the primary inference cascade (wild cluster bootstrap and permutation), falls short of significance only under its single most conservative bootstrap variant, and survives ten alternative-mechanism tests (eight conducted in this paper, two adopted from the companion papers).
Quote card for The AI Pledge for Humanity featuring a signer’s reflection that says: "I've been concerned about the future of AI since around 2010, long before it became an issue of concern in our economy or popular culture, but at a point where some communities already foresaw the challenges and potential it might present. In the long run, I think that this sort of commitment is the only way that AI will serve as a positive force for humanity. AI has the power to usher in an unprecedented age of abundance, but without a commitment such as this, it almost certainly won't." On the right, a person stands on a reflective beach beside a large black letter A. Bottom text reads: “Sign & share your own — aipledgeforhumanity.org.”
Quote card for The AI Pledge for Humanity. Text reads, “This level of wealth concentration is not only unjust. It is unsustainable. It inevitably leads to conflicts, wars, revolutions, that bring a lot of human suffering and destroy the wealth that new technologies help create.” At right, a person stands beside a large letter A reflected on a calm shoreline.
Poll crosstab for question 40: “Would you support or oppose the U.S. federal government providing a universal basic income of about $1,500 a month ($18,000 a year) for all adult citizens, whether or not they work?” Overall, 48% support it, including 27% strongly and 21% somewhat; 42% oppose it, including 13% somewhat and 29% strongly; 11% are not sure. Support is highest among Black respondents at 65%, Harris voters at 63%, adults ages 30–44 at 58%, and nonvoters at 57%. Opposition is highest among Trump voters at 62%, adults 65+ at 58%, White respondents at 48%, and college graduates at 49%. The total unweighted sample size is 3,008.
Quote graphic for The AI Pledge for Humanity. Text reads: “In a world where the wealth gap is widening and the political environment is infected with corruption, there is a very real fear of what our world will look like with the benefits of AI solely in the hands of the powerful. An AI dividend, or UBI, may be our only hope at prosperity for the many and not just the few.” — From a signer of the pledge. At right, a person stands on a reflective shoreline near a large black letter A. Bottom text reads: “Sign & share your own — AIPledgeForHumanity.org.”
Promotional graphic for The AI Pledge for Humanity. On the left, a cream-colored text panel reads: “We need a maximum wealth limit; we need a minimum wealth floor. And we need the universal basic income to distribute this wealth among us all. — From a signer of the pledge.” At the bottom it says: “Sign & share your own — aipledgeforhumanity.org.” On the right, a lone person stands on a reflective shoreline near a large black letter A under a soft, hazy sky.
Promotional graphic for The AI Pledge for Humanity. On the left, a cream-colored text panel reads: “We are already past the point where our choice is between brutal despotism, annihilation, and cooperative thriving; and every possible future in the latter category requires UBI. — From a signer of the pledge.” At the bottom it says: “Sign & share your own — aipledgeforhumanity.org.” On the right, a lone person stands on a reflective shoreline near a large black letter A under a soft, hazy sky.
Promotional graphic for The AI Pledge for Humanity. On the left, a cream-colored text panel reads: “As so many of the the commons were seized and fenced off long ago, and with the current assimilation of the data of our entire global civilization now used to birth and train an emerging artificial workforce (unlike anything previously encountered by humanity), it is time we start taking a good look at how resources could start to flow back to fund a guaranteed solid economic floor for everyone. — From a signer of the pledge.” At the bottom it says: “Sign & share your own — aipledgeforhumanity.org.” On the right, a lone person stands on a reflective shoreline near a large black letter A under a soft, hazy sky.
Promotional graphic for The AI Pledge for Humanity. On the left, a cream-colored text panel reads: “This could just be the most important policy position on the landscape. Elevating people by raising the floor on resources makes everything else we want to achieve possible, individually and collectively. It’s proven to lower crime, increase risk taking, raise creativity, promote pro-social behaviors even raise IQ. — From a signer of the pledge.” At the bottom it says: “Sign & share your own — aipledgeforhumanity.org.” On the right, a lone person stands on a reflective shoreline near a large black letter A under a soft, hazy sky.
Scott Santens 19m Unsubscribe Universal basic income is an extremely important policy to fight for and win. It's not the only thing we need to do -- for example we also need universal healthcare and 4-day weeks but UBI should be seen as a floor below which no one is allowed to fall that rises over time as a productivity dividend so that as GDP grows, everyone is better off. One very important thing it would do is provide everyone the power to say no, which translates to strike power and bargaining power, and thus better wages for jobs that can't be automated. It would provide more freedom of choice so that people can choose the work that's best for them, including unpaid care work and also including starting their own new jobs as entrepreneurs. UBI is far more than money. It is a foundation to build lives on.
Here's the Latest and Biggest UBI-Related News: ‣ Newsom’s New AI Order Opens the Door to UBI via Shared AI Gains ‣ National Association of Women and the Law Backs Basic Income in Canada ‣ Study Links Rx Kids to a 32% Drop in Flint Infant Maltreatment Investigations ‣ NY Basic Income Study Finds $1,000 a Month Bought Time for Meaningful Work ‣ Business Insider Profiles AI-Displaced Worker Helped by Basic Income ‣ South Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister Says AI Wealth Must Benefit the Public ‣ Chris Rabb Wins PA-03 Democratic Primary After Running on Platform With UBI ‣ South Korea’s Rural Basic Income Pilot for 300,000+ People Shows Early Local Gains
Promotional graphic for The AI Pledge for Humanity. On the left, a cream-colored text panel reads: “Realizing the promise of this pledge is what inoculates our civilization from economic and ecological collapse. Ushering in an era of abundance within the means of our planet where all of humanity is free to pursue life, liberty, happiness, and meaning. — From a signer of the pledge.” At the bottom it says: “Sign & share your own — aipledgeforhumanity.org.” On the right, a lone person stands on a reflective shoreline near a large black letter A under a soft, hazy sky.
Image of Martin Luther King, Jr. and a quote by him that he published in his book Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? in 1967. His quote reads: "A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look at thousands of working people displaced from their jobs with reduced incomes as a result of automation while the profits of the employers remain intact, and say: 'This is not just.'"
Promotional graphic for The AI Pledge for Humanity. A muted beige layout features a wide banner image at the top showing a lone figure standing on reflective shallow water beside a large black letter A, with the text “The A Pledge for Humanity.” Below, a quote from a pledge signer reads: “When a sensible argument can be made for Universal Basic Income across conservative, liberal, and libertarian principles, then it follows that UBI should be pursued as an effective policy that transcends ideologies because of its common sense.” A “Signed” badge appears on the right, and the bottom text says: “Sign & share your own — aipledgeforhumanity.org.
“Centrism is not going to save us,” he said at a press conference in March. “We need real change, not another status quo politician who gives us more of the same. We need to elect a movement candidate.” Rabb’s endorsements have largely come from progressive activists and grassroots organizations rather than the traditional Democratic establishment. He has the support of the Working Families Party, Philadelphia Democratic Socialists of America, Justice Democrats and the Congressional Progressive Caucus. U.S. Rep. Summer Lee and state Rep. Nikil Saval have also individually endorsed him. His campaign has emphasized small-dollar fundraising, movement politics and building a coalition of younger voters, reform-minded Democrats and residents looking for a more openly progressive voice in Congress. His platform includes guaranteed housing, “Medicare for All,” universal basic income, livable wages and publicly owned grocery stores.
Promotional graphic for The AI Pledge for Humanity. On the left, a quote reads: “I believe an unconditional and universal basic income floor is essential for humanity. We have to get away from judging everyone and instead support people. The positives are great for UBI, but I also believe it’s essential for our democracy. AI is taking away jobs and we have to find a way to support people and share the vast wealth it creates. Otherwise the dictators and leaders of hate and division will win.” The quote is attributed to “a signer of the pledge.” On the right, a lone person stands on reflective shallow water beside a large black letter A at sunrise. Bottom text says: “Sign & share your own — aipledgeforhumanity.org.”
Graphic for The AI Pledge for Humanity featuring a quote from a pledge signer: “We know that change to working patterns is on its way and that inequality is already widening to the detriment of everyone — even those who don’t realize it as they get richer (read The Spirit Level). UBI is absolutely essential in this context.” The bottom reads, “Sign & share your own” and “aipledgeforhumanity.org.”
May 27, 1968 The statement below was circulated in May of 1968 to 275 universities and research organizations. More than 1,000 economists from 125 universities signed the statement. The undersigned economists urge the Congress to adopt this year a national system of income guarantees and supplements. The Poor People's Campaign in Washington is demanding a guaranteed minimum income for all Americans. The Kerner Commission on Civil Disorders called for a national system of income supplements. A group of business leaders recently advocated a "negative income tax." These proposals are all similar in design and purpose. Like all civilized nations in the twentieth century, this country has long recognized a public responsibility for the living standards of its citizens. Yet our present programs of public assistance and social insurance exclude the millions who are in need and meet inadequately the needs of millions more. All too often these programs unnecessarily penalize work and thrift and discourage the building of stable families.
Boston-Power started in 2005 to work on improving lithium-ion technology. The company was a highly touted start-up, with early cus- tomers such as computer manufacturer Hewlett-Packard and car manufacturer Saab. It was initially quite successful in raising funds from venture investors; by 2010, Boston-Power had raised $185 million in financing from private sources (as well as from the Swedish government). But the company needed more to take the next step. They wanted to build a 450,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Auburn, a small central Massachusetts town, that would have immediately created seven to eight hundred jobs. This would require more funding than the private VCs were willing to provide; as we have described, this type of large-scale manufacturing investment is outside the venture investing wheelhouse. Boston-Power then turned to the federal government but were unable to secure the $100 million grant for which they applied, as government spending in this area was focused on more established companies. 69 Fortunately for Boston-Power-and unfortunately for the US another source of funding was willing to step in: China. Boston-Power raised over $300 million from the Chinese venture firm GSR, as well as in low-interest loans, grants, buildings, and subsidies. 70 Of course, this meant building the new plant in China, not in the US. Employees in the US were shed as the move to China took place, and as of 2017, Boston-Power had only fifty employees in the US and about five hundred in China.71 Since moving to China, Boston-Power has continued to receive Chinese government financial support for further development. In Dec 2014, the company announced it had secured US$290 million in local government financial support to expand its Chinese facilities fivefold. The Chinese government was willing to invest where private US VCs were not, and the result is a growth in manufacturing capacity happening not in central Massachusetts but in China.
Quote by a signer of the AI Pledge for Humanity that can be found at aipledgeforhumanity.org: "As an entrepreneur and educator, it is clear to me that now is the time for UBI. UBI is the way that we acknowledge the value we have all contributed to AI. UBI is the way we acknowledge that we all deserve to flourish. There is more than enough for all of us. There is no reason poverty should exist at this stage in our history. "Poverty is not a lack of character. Poverty is a lack of cash."- Rutger Bregman. Let's eliminate poverty with cash and bring in a new era of abundance."
INTRODUCTION: ENDLESS INVENTION - 13 Second, we should share the benefits of innovation more directly with the US taxpayer. For too long, the government has funded basic research-such as digital computers, the internet, and the Human Genome Project that has essentially become windfall profits for a small number of investors who are able to get in early into enough technology-development projects. The increasing shift in the returns from production toward capital owners (people who own companies, property, and so on, rather than workers), combined with falling effective rates of taxation on those returns to capital, leaves many Americans rightly suspicious of government investments that lead to more profitable firms. As part of our competitive criteria for areas to attract the additional federal science funding, local governments would need to provide a way for taxpayers to share directly in the upside. For example, local and state government could hold a large, publicly owned parcel of land for development in and around these new research hubs-with the government getting the upside, in higher rents or capital appreciation, as this land becomes increasingly valuable. Profits would be paid out directly to citizens as a cash dividend every year. We have a great model of how to do this from a relatively conservative state: the Alaska Permanent Fund, which distributes the revenues from natural resources (oil and gas) equally to all state residents. An annual innovation dividend would be paid out in cash terms equally to all Americans, illustrating vividly the returns from the public's investment in advancing science.
Graphic for The AI Pledge for Humanity. A misty shoreline banner shows “The A” with a lone standing figure serving as the “I,” followed by “Pledge for Humanity.” Below, a quote reads: “A guaranteed, basic, livable income (UBI) is a necessity now. Decades of research demonstrate the failure of trickle down economics and the value of a guaranteed, basic, livable income. The AI horizon has made its implementation much more pressing.” The bottom includes “Sign & share your own” and “aipledgeforhumanity.org.”
Mothers undertake the bulk of unpaid care work, without which our society would cease to function. To turn this around: is it acceptable that as a society we free-load on this care? Mothers' economic autonomy - that is the very foundation of their citizenship and their liberty - is undermined by the extant intersection of the institutions of marriage, employment and welfare. It is on this basis that I am identifying mothers, and more still single mothers, as a specific socio-economic and political group in urgent need of basic income. This is a human rights crisis given that lone parent families are one of the fastest growing family forms in western societies and, moreover, that women head 80-90 per cent of these families.
Beige and blue-toned promotional graphic for “The AI Pledge for Humanity.” On the left, large quote text reads: “Every human deserves the basic security to live a good life, and to have a safe floor from which to launch themselves as high as they wish to go, free from drudgery and lack.” It is attributed to “a signer of the pledge.” Along the bottom is “Sign & share your own” and “aipledgeforhumanity.org.” On the right, a lone human figure stands on a reflective beach beside a large black letter A, visually suggesting “AI.”
Graphic titled “The mind’s preoccupation” comparing two head silhouettes labeled “Before Basic Income” and “After Basic Income.” Before basic income, a large red bubble labeled “Money to Live” dominates the mind, crowding out smaller concerns like enjoyment, meeting people, self-improvement, helping community, and short-term goals. After basic income, “Money to Live” is gone, and the mind has more space for larger priorities including helping community, self-improvement, enjoyment, innovation, meeting people, and long-term goals.
Democracy has infrastructure. It requires independent courts, free media, genuine electoral competition – the apparatus of formal institutional design. But it also requires something more diffuse and harder to legislate: a population that is not so materially precarious that its members cannot afford to exercise political judgment freely. Where enough people live in sufficient dependency – on employers, on local patrons, on political machines that control access to basic resources – the formal apparatus of democracy operates on a substrate that corrodes its meaning.
However, we also found that the program improved participants’ artistic output, including the time they could dedicate to their art and their satisfaction with the quality and the impact of their work.” ‘What art could we produce as a society if our artists could invest more time and money in their craft?’ Stephen Roll The GI program was found to reduce financial stress and debt; increase artists’ ability to invest time in their art; increase motivation and productivity; and improve mental health, while showing no reduction in other sources of income.