[Dilbert San Diego]

Question—

Does the universal basic income proposal replace all the existing public assistance programs?

Or is this intended to be in addition to, and over and above, all the social safety net/public assistance programs we already provide for the poor?

[Tax-chick]

The theory is that the Universal Basic Income would replace all other government assistance. If it were a spherical basic income in a vacuum - $X to each living individual period, nothing follows - it would be a huge money saver.
All the “helping people” employees would have to find genuinely productive work. There would be no incentive for stupid life choices, only the “floor” that would prevent absolute destitution.

However, everyone knows that’s nonsense. As soon as one recipient spent his income on drugs while his child starved, we’d have to crank up the whole bureaucracy again, and inflation would wipe out the value of the UBI.

[Clutch Martin]

Let’s try it in Russia, or Germany and see if it works!