UBI is great in spirit but easily exploited (as we see today). UBI relies on a "perfect market" with "perfect competition" to keep the costs of essential goods

UBI is great in spirit but easily exploited (as we see today). UBI relies on a "perfect market" with "perfect competition" to keep the costs of essential goods low like food or gas, etc. The reality is we do not have anywhere near "perfect competition", e.g. 1. OPEC just capped output to keep oil prices high; 2. prices at the grocery store are more attributable to corporate greed than increased costs. Instead of UBI, we are better off with policies that raise the safety nets higher from the floor and encourage innovation to make doing so cheap. - Single Payer Healthcare - which also includes preventative measures like nutrition. Cheap but healthy food like e.g. Potatoes, Rice, Beans, Lentils, Cheese, Pasta, etc should all be included in the Single Payer System. This also requires more Nurse Practitioners, and Physician's Assistants, Self-service appointments, Virtual care, etc to reduce costs. - Rezoning the entire US for at minimum 10 story buildings, with guaranteed 10% low income housing. Including mixed use zoning so Services (restaurants and shops) are colocated with Offices and Residential. Encouraging fewer cars or public transit needs, by having grocery stores, theaters, gyms, etc all in walking distance and at most two elevators away. Ideally also cheap public transit between these neighborhoods into city centers, and each other. - Incentivized higher-education programs - at public education centers - no government help for attending Harvard, or Stanford, etc. Government scholarships "full-rides" for in-demand industries like Plumbing, Electricians, Welding, 3D Printing, Software, Computer Chips, Robotics, Civil, Mechanical, Areospace, etc, etc. Including housing and entertainment stipends like in Germany, etc. - Safe injection sites, with colocated housing first sites, near but outside every major US city that provide safe, clean narcotics to addicts. Keeping them off the streets, and encouraging help programs, rehabilitation and eventually education programs to get back into society. - Creating/upgrading the infrastructure for energy abundance. Nuclear + Solar + Wind + Storage to meet 100x more energy than the country currently needs. Including investments into the Grid for local storage, generation, and incentives for smart usage that flattens peak distribution. Add regulation to cover all of the country's parking lots with Solar canopies and battery packs (where "the formula" showcases it is profitable over 30 years or a similarly long time horizon). This is what I'd prefer we push towards rather than UBI. In the meanwhile, I'll happily support UBI if thats the only thing getting traction (cuz at least its better than what we have today).