I have no objection to hiring people to build useful stuff.<p>That prospect differs from a &quot;job guarantee&quot; precisely where that stuff is not sufficiently useful.  In the margin there, I object to paying people to take time and effort away from places they may find more value, to do things that are of minimal value, in the name of &quot;dignity.&quot;  In fact, I think paying for useless work is destructive of precisely that dignity (along with a pile of economic value).