Actually, its a reform long overdue. Greece can no longer afford its bloated, inefficient and wasteful welfare system.
Replacing it with a MGI would allow to people to earn and keep money over their income guarantee, it would unleash individuals and families to work harder and it would ensure social stability. The idea is to reward people to make as much money as they want and to become rich.
Welfare keeps people poor; its discourages work and it doesn’t promote well-being of individuals and families. No one has any incentive to do better out of fear of losing their meager government benefits.
Its good to see conservatives and liberals get behind a social initiative that shows a great deal of promise in attacking poverty and social injustice. The pilot program looks worth the while. I wish Greece good luck with it.
I understand the reasoning. Milton Friedman proposed something similar with his "negative income tax."
But it does encourage indolence and contradict Paul's admonition, "If any will not work, neither let him eat."
Nevertheless, the program represents an improvement over the status quo, which may be the most we can currently hope for.