It's not basic income if it is only for some people under certain conditions. That implies bureaucracy to get in and policies. It's basically just yet another b

It's not basic income if it is only for some people under certain conditions. That implies bureaucracy to get in and policies. It's basically just yet another benefit program that some people may or may not qualify for. We have basic income programs for the elderly (state pensions). For children (child care money). For students. For veterans. And for unemployed people. The only people not receiving anything are the employed. And for those people we have tax thresholds, minimum wages, sick leave, etc. Basic income doesn't have to be that complicated. Most countries end up choosing to not let people starve on the streets. That means that there's a minimum cost per individual that is covered one way or another. In most countries that means a combination of free health care, food stamps, housing and typically at least some benefits (though usually with lots of strings attached) for the most poor in society and a lot of complex programs for everybody else. Of course some countries really do dump their problems on the street, which creates its own set of problems in terms of crime, poverty, etc. If you just accept that there's an X cost per citizen in terms of them not starving, having shelter, etc. there are multiple ways of getting organized on that front. The way most countries ended up doing that (i.e. with a lot of bureaucracy, tax complexity, and a very hard to navigate program of benefits, rules and exceptions) is not cheap. The main issue with basic income is not that it is hard but that it is controversial. Basically, it flows from a value system that dictates that people must pretend to be useful (by having a job). Never mind that many of those jobs are bullshit and make people miserable. Even though everybody ultimately gets what they need, we'd like to have lots of strings attached to that privilege. When you hear unemployment statistics that are ridiculously low (like 4%), just think for a second which people are not part of those statistics. That's a rather large group. In many countries that is close to or actually more than half of the population. It's not a problem. These people are being taken care off already. We don't call it basic income but these people are not working and they are definitely not poor. Basic income just formalizes that status quo.