[tarblog]

Maybe, but there's strong evidence (from the field of macroeconomics) that allowing people to just receive money (rather than payments in kind) makes them even better off. Although you may fret about people using the money for bad things, in reality mostly they don't, but they are better at allocating resources than a central planner. Think of it this way, to the citizen who actually wants to be better off, would you rather be able to cut your spending in order to make a smart investment or not be able to do so?

[Lawtonfogle]

They can also better fit their own needs. Maybe a smaller worse shelter wouldn't be an issue for them, but they would much prefer to have warmer clothing (smaller and warmer in comparison to peers in the same location). Maybe they forgo milk to buy even more lentils.