The other main benefit of BI over the current patchwork of welfare programs is that it removes the disincentive to work on the margin. Today, many unskilled people stand to lose money by getting a job, because the value of their labor is so low that the loss of benefits they'd trigger by becoming employed would actually be more significant than the amount of money they'd make from any job for which they can actually qualify.
This is a stupid state of affairs, because: (1) it wastes the potential labor of such people (which is, after all, generally worth something); (2) it robs them of the psychological benefits of being gainfully employed; and (3) it disincentivizes them from gaining the practice in work and thereby developing the skills that would allow them to get better jobs in the future.
BI fixes these problems by making sure that everyone, even at the bottom, sees positive economic return for their labor.
From a social dynamics standpoint, I suspect that over the long run, this feature is probably even more valuable than the "keep you from starving" features of BI.
This is a stupid state of affairs, because: (1) it wastes the potential labor of such people (which is, after all, generally worth something); (2) it robs them of the psychological benefits of being gainfully employed; and (3) it disincentivizes them from gaining the practice in work and thereby developing the skills that would allow them to get better jobs in the future.
BI fixes these problems by making sure that everyone, even at the bottom, sees positive economic return for their labor.
From a social dynamics standpoint, I suspect that over the long run, this feature is probably even more valuable than the "keep you from starving" features of BI.