[starpilot]

By that reasoning, direct cash disbursement charities like GiveDirectly would fail miserably. But they've been shown to work extremely well. People in general understand how to allocate their own money better than the government does.

[RhysU]

> People in general understand how to allocate their own money better than the government does.

Mwuh ha ha! Then why levy taxes for anything?!

[AnthonyMouse]

The people receiving government assistance are not expected to be the same people paying net taxes to fund it.

Although the existing system is so asinine that sometimes they are, which is just another reason to replace it.

[scotty79]

> Then why levy taxes for anything?!

Because people owning tanks and bombs want to be paid for not using them.

[closeparen]

Knowing how best to allocate money != having enough of it.

[dragonwriter]

Internalizing externalities.

[DougN7]

“People in general” don’t need UBI. The exceptions are why the safety nets exist.

[_fq4v]

Under a traditional UBI system, most people won't get money from the goverment. A UBI as the libertarians described it is basically a negative income tax. If your job pays $20k/year and the UBI level is $10k/yr, for example, then you will not receive anything. However, if your job pays $5k/year, and the UBI is $10k/yr, you receive $5k a year.