Tom Pogson
@basicbc.bsky.social
Musician, writer, and Basic Income Victoria BC Guy who knows the abundance of a better world IS possible.
https://linktr.ee/Basicbc
https://linktr.ee/Basicbc
Pinned
Tom Pogson
@basicbc.bsky.social
· Dec 1
Explore the usual questions at www.scottsantens.com/basic-income...
Link also in bio.
Guy Standing also goes through them with a chapter on both "how to pay for it" and "won't people quit?" In his book "Basic Income and How We Can Make it Happen" (2015 Pelican Books.)
Link also in bio.
Guy Standing also goes through them with a chapter on both "how to pay for it" and "won't people quit?" In his book "Basic Income and How We Can Make it Happen" (2015 Pelican Books.)
Reposted by Tom Pogson
If you want more people (not just elite white men) to engage in exploration of all sorts, there is an answer.
Universal Basic Income.
Universal Basic Income.
November 11, 2025 at 1:42 PM
If you want more people (not just elite white men) to engage in exploration of all sorts, there is an answer.
Universal Basic Income.
Universal Basic Income.
Reposted by Tom Pogson
"Instead of trying to assuage critics’ fears, the pro-UBI movement needs to challenge the narrative in which any refusal to accept employment is a 'bad' experimental observation."
The latest from @karlwiderquist.bsky.social:
The latest from @karlwiderquist.bsky.social:
The Fatal Trap UBI Boosters Keep Falling Into
To win the argument for universal basic income, advocates must confront the myth that less work means less worth.
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu
November 10, 2025 at 3:38 PM
"Instead of trying to assuage critics’ fears, the pro-UBI movement needs to challenge the narrative in which any refusal to accept employment is a 'bad' experimental observation."
The latest from @karlwiderquist.bsky.social:
The latest from @karlwiderquist.bsky.social:
In 1971, the Special Senate Committee on Poverty (Croll Report) was published on the subject of guaranteed income. It didn't pass a law because the Senate doesn't do that.
Yet over on Twitter they are all screaming "UBI!" "CERB didn't work" "Agenda 2030"
There's so much to unpack with this.
Yet over on Twitter they are all screaming "UBI!" "CERB didn't work" "Agenda 2030"
There's so much to unpack with this.
November 11, 2025 at 4:08 PM
In 1971, the Special Senate Committee on Poverty (Croll Report) was published on the subject of guaranteed income. It didn't pass a law because the Senate doesn't do that.
Yet over on Twitter they are all screaming "UBI!" "CERB didn't work" "Agenda 2030"
There's so much to unpack with this.
Yet over on Twitter they are all screaming "UBI!" "CERB didn't work" "Agenda 2030"
There's so much to unpack with this.
A better framing for Ai and UBI:
The industries we are creating are not mass employers.
-Gerald Huff
Every day you sit in your chair, your marginal pricing power declines.
-Viktor Shvets
www.scottsantens.com/ai-will-rapi...
The industries we are creating are not mass employers.
-Gerald Huff
Every day you sit in your chair, your marginal pricing power declines.
-Viktor Shvets
www.scottsantens.com/ai-will-rapi...
AI's economic impact is complex, disrupting jobs but not erasing all. Universal basic income can help us adapt.
AI impacts jobs but won't erase all; universal basic income can help navigate disruptions in the economy.
www.scottsantens.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:14 PM
A better framing for Ai and UBI:
The industries we are creating are not mass employers.
-Gerald Huff
Every day you sit in your chair, your marginal pricing power declines.
-Viktor Shvets
www.scottsantens.com/ai-will-rapi...
The industries we are creating are not mass employers.
-Gerald Huff
Every day you sit in your chair, your marginal pricing power declines.
-Viktor Shvets
www.scottsantens.com/ai-will-rapi...
Some ideas are both smart and non-partisan.
"A basic or citizen's income is not an alternative to a negative income tax. It is simply another way to introduce a negative income tax if it is accompanied with a positive income tax with no exemption."
-Milton Friedman
"A basic or citizen's income is not an alternative to a negative income tax. It is simply another way to introduce a negative income tax if it is accompanied with a positive income tax with no exemption."
-Milton Friedman
November 10, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Some ideas are both smart and non-partisan.
"A basic or citizen's income is not an alternative to a negative income tax. It is simply another way to introduce a negative income tax if it is accompanied with a positive income tax with no exemption."
-Milton Friedman
"A basic or citizen's income is not an alternative to a negative income tax. It is simply another way to introduce a negative income tax if it is accompanied with a positive income tax with no exemption."
-Milton Friedman
Reposted by Tom Pogson
Trickle down is a failed theory.
Trickle up is the way.
UBI
Trickle up is the way.
UBI
November 7, 2025 at 3:09 AM
Trickle down is a failed theory.
Trickle up is the way.
UBI
Trickle up is the way.
UBI
What you should have to do to validate your existence:
1.
1.
November 8, 2025 at 8:14 PM
What you should have to do to validate your existence:
1.
1.
Reposted by Tom Pogson
New article in @usatoday.com published today about universal basic income that I was interviewed for by its author.
www.usatoday.com/story/money/...
www.usatoday.com/story/money/...
November 8, 2025 at 6:44 PM
New article in @usatoday.com published today about universal basic income that I was interviewed for by its author.
www.usatoday.com/story/money/...
www.usatoday.com/story/money/...
Please sign and share this new petition e-6791 to help support Canadians with disabilities living below our federal poverty line with necessary immediate support and a renewal of the promise of the Canada Disability Benefit made over five years ago.
www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en...
www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en...
Petition e-6791 - Petitions
www.ourcommons.ca
November 8, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Please sign and share this new petition e-6791 to help support Canadians with disabilities living below our federal poverty line with necessary immediate support and a renewal of the promise of the Canada Disability Benefit made over five years ago.
www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en...
www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en...
The only alteration I'd give... technology has been disrupting things since the 1970s, and we should have started basic income then. It is better to start ironing the bugs out before the tidal wave actually hits.
But still, the more voice to it, the better.
But still, the more voice to it, the better.
November 8, 2025 at 6:07 PM
The only alteration I'd give... technology has been disrupting things since the 1970s, and we should have started basic income then. It is better to start ironing the bugs out before the tidal wave actually hits.
But still, the more voice to it, the better.
But still, the more voice to it, the better.
Reposted by Tom Pogson
BREAKING: Canadian Senate Bill S-206 for a Guaranteed Livable Basic Income passed Second Reading and will be sent to Committee
News Release: Senate Committee to Study Guaranteed Livable Basic Income — Senator Kim Pate 🤩
News Release: Senate Committee to Study Guaranteed Livable Basic Income — Senator Kim Pate 🤩
November 7, 2025 at 5:29 PM
BREAKING: Canadian Senate Bill S-206 for a Guaranteed Livable Basic Income passed Second Reading and will be sent to Committee
News Release: Senate Committee to Study Guaranteed Livable Basic Income — Senator Kim Pate 🤩
News Release: Senate Committee to Study Guaranteed Livable Basic Income — Senator Kim Pate 🤩
People have it backward...its (a large part) this that causes the politics, not politics that cause this. Now, we, by employing more austerity and no reforms, will proceed to only get more of both.
The only growing share most get is growing financialization.
www.ctvnews.ca/canada/artic...
The only growing share most get is growing financialization.
www.ctvnews.ca/canada/artic...
Canadians skipping bills to afford groceries: Nanos
One in five Canadians say they’ve skipped paying a bill to afford groceries in the past year, according to new polling by Nanos Research for CTV News.
www.ctvnews.ca
November 7, 2025 at 5:38 PM
People have it backward...its (a large part) this that causes the politics, not politics that cause this. Now, we, by employing more austerity and no reforms, will proceed to only get more of both.
The only growing share most get is growing financialization.
www.ctvnews.ca/canada/artic...
The only growing share most get is growing financialization.
www.ctvnews.ca/canada/artic...
As life continues to evolve around us, basic income is a smart component of an infrastructure for the 21st century and beyond.
November 6, 2025 at 7:27 PM
As life continues to evolve around us, basic income is a smart component of an infrastructure for the 21st century and beyond.
The key to basic income has always been the unconditionality.
It is what is groundbreaking. This is more than robots and poverty. It is saying we value you, we trust you, we will invest in you as a member of our community.
It is what is groundbreaking. This is more than robots and poverty. It is saying we value you, we trust you, we will invest in you as a member of our community.
November 5, 2025 at 7:03 PM
The key to basic income has always been the unconditionality.
It is what is groundbreaking. This is more than robots and poverty. It is saying we value you, we trust you, we will invest in you as a member of our community.
It is what is groundbreaking. This is more than robots and poverty. It is saying we value you, we trust you, we will invest in you as a member of our community.
Reposted by Tom Pogson
BREAKING🍁: 2025 Report of the National Advisory Council on Poverty recommends a basic income floor to ensure everyone reaches at least the poverty line
This is pretty reasonable.
This is pretty reasonable.
November 4, 2025 at 12:56 AM
BREAKING🍁: 2025 Report of the National Advisory Council on Poverty recommends a basic income floor to ensure everyone reaches at least the poverty line
This is pretty reasonable.
This is pretty reasonable.
Reposted by Tom Pogson
😂
we’ve had time to make 14 air bud movies but we can’t implement universal basic income
October 23, 2025 at 5:45 PM
😂
1: Snap needs to be reinstated immediately.
2.People need enough money to not only access food but the food they specifically want and need.
basicbc.wordpress.com/2025/11/03/m...
2.People need enough money to not only access food but the food they specifically want and need.
basicbc.wordpress.com/2025/11/03/m...
My problem with free food.
The idea of food being a human right I absolutely agree with. So, what’s my problem anyways? First off I need to say that this was absolutely prompted by the current terrible situation with S…
basicbc.wordpress.com
November 3, 2025 at 6:11 PM
1: Snap needs to be reinstated immediately.
2.People need enough money to not only access food but the food they specifically want and need.
basicbc.wordpress.com/2025/11/03/m...
2.People need enough money to not only access food but the food they specifically want and need.
basicbc.wordpress.com/2025/11/03/m...
My hot take:
Basic Income is the subject name.
The movement for basic income isnt a monolith as we often have different opinions. In fact it sort of was that that created what was initially the Basic Income European Network that became the Basic Income Earth Network in 2004.
youtu.be/mR1bKB2MphY?...
Basic Income is the subject name.
The movement for basic income isnt a monolith as we often have different opinions. In fact it sort of was that that created what was initially the Basic Income European Network that became the Basic Income Earth Network in 2004.
youtu.be/mR1bKB2MphY?...
Guaranteed Basic Income VS UBI | Floyd Marinescu
YouTube video by UBI Works
youtu.be
November 1, 2025 at 6:51 PM
My hot take:
Basic Income is the subject name.
The movement for basic income isnt a monolith as we often have different opinions. In fact it sort of was that that created what was initially the Basic Income European Network that became the Basic Income Earth Network in 2004.
youtu.be/mR1bKB2MphY?...
Basic Income is the subject name.
The movement for basic income isnt a monolith as we often have different opinions. In fact it sort of was that that created what was initially the Basic Income European Network that became the Basic Income Earth Network in 2004.
youtu.be/mR1bKB2MphY?...
Reposted by Tom Pogson
Whether you think it's bullshit or not that companies are using AI to not hire people, the impacts on the economy point to a need to stimulate demand soon. For J-Pow that likely means lower interest rates, but that can only go so far. We need to start seriously talking about at least a small UBI.
Jerome Powell says the AI hiring apocalypse is real: 'Job creation is pretty close to zero.’ | Fortune
Powell said the Fed is walking a tightrope as AI-fueled investment props up growth but erodes hiring.
fortune.com
October 31, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Whether you think it's bullshit or not that companies are using AI to not hire people, the impacts on the economy point to a need to stimulate demand soon. For J-Pow that likely means lower interest rates, but that can only go so far. We need to start seriously talking about at least a small UBI.
Reposted by Tom Pogson
New on my Substack about how the election that just happened in the Netherlands may soon result in the Dutch attaining first place in the race for Universal Basic Income. What happened and why did it happen? Give it a read!
The Netherlands May Become the First Country With a Universal Basic Income
D66's Dutch election win was fueled by a universal basic income plan, backed by trials showing removing work rules boosts well-being without hurting employment
open.substack.com
October 31, 2025 at 5:24 PM
New on my Substack about how the election that just happened in the Netherlands may soon result in the Dutch attaining first place in the race for Universal Basic Income. What happened and why did it happen? Give it a read!
