I'm sure you realize this, but to make it explicit: that argument applies to virtually all government activity. From Social Security to Medicare to public roads to even the creation and enforcement of private property rights themselves. All of those things cost money, and for all of those things the government taxes some people and gives money to incentivize the labor of others.
And that's all fine and good to object to: I don't agree wholeheartedly with that idea, but I'm much more sympathetic to it than the average American, let alone the average anything else.
But you should still support a basic minimum guaranteed income, or at least replacing our current system of government benefits with it. Because it does not distort the market in the same way that all those other welfare schemes do. It's virtually impossible to be manipulated to favor any particular person or interest group, simply because everyone gets it. And while most current forms of welfare highly discourage work, the basic income doesn't because it doesn't phase out: instead of having de facto hidden marginal tax rates in excess of 100%, you get a simple and clear marginal tax rate that's the same as the list price.
> It's virtually impossible to be manipulated to favor any particular person or interest group, simply because everyone gets it.
Well, you can raise or lower the stipend and associated taxes, to benefit those with low or high incomes, respectively (in the short term). Hopefully there's some amount that is both sufficiently optimal theoretically and sufficiently politically attractive that we can settle on a single policy for managing that, though...
And that's all fine and good to object to: I don't agree wholeheartedly with that idea, but I'm much more sympathetic to it than the average American, let alone the average anything else.
But you should still support a basic minimum guaranteed income, or at least replacing our current system of government benefits with it. Because it does not distort the market in the same way that all those other welfare schemes do. It's virtually impossible to be manipulated to favor any particular person or interest group, simply because everyone gets it. And while most current forms of welfare highly discourage work, the basic income doesn't because it doesn't phase out: instead of having de facto hidden marginal tax rates in excess of 100%, you get a simple and clear marginal tax rate that's the same as the list price.