Interesting.

So most people would still work, even if they had a basic income coming in.

Some percent would not. My concern is that we would be subsidizing them, and the subsidy might be large. E.g., of 20% of the population decided to just not work and live on “basic”, then we would be paying for them to do that. So the question becomes, what percent of people would do that, and how much would that add up to?

I actually did write a book that I did not publish through a publisher — I self-published it and put it in Amazon. I sold only a handful of copies, even thought it was the best book I have written (IMO). In contrast, I published three books through a traditional publisher, and one of them sold really well. So just because someone does something, like write a book, does not mean that people will discover it, or read it — it could end up being a wasted activity. The odds are that would be the case. Today, there is so much “noise” that if something is not promoted by someone who has a following, it will probably go unnoticed.

I am concerned about encroachment on my income by the Federal government. I already pay too much in taxes. I can see basic income increasing my taxes even more. As it is, because I live in an expensive area, I need to earn a-lot, and so I am in a high tax bracket. What is left over after living expenses and taxes, the government takes away in self-employment insurance taxes. Yet if I look at what I will get in Social Security, it is nowhere near enough to live on. I would prefer to just be allowed to keep my money and not give it to the government to give back to me, which they won’t — they will give it to someone else.