You’re right that a UBI effectively vastly increases the power a government could wield over its citizens. One of the most important sets of principles the US

You’re right that a UBI effectively vastly increases the power a government could wield over its citizens. One of the most important sets of principles the US founders relied on were the facts that power corrupts, that it (unfortunately) has to be wielded by someone in a governing sense, and that the best ways to keep government from becoming corrupt and abusive are to (a) limit its power to that which is essential for rule-of-law, representative government; and (b) divide that power among different people who have checks and balances on each others’ power. Therefore it seems to me that a UBI is likely not a good idea because it vastly increases government’s power. Note that the US government already wields a ton of power not explicitly granted by the constitution in the form of federal grants...