<p><pre><code>  This country needs to offer a minimal viable income to all citizens.
  I&#x27;m sure nearly everyone will blast me for how bad this will be and 
  for the inflation that&#x27;ll surely happen but every study I&#x27;ve seen 
  shows that giving people relatively small amounts of money improves 
  every aspect of their lives. 
</code></pre>
I have followed some of the Universal&#x2F;Unconditional Basic Income discussions here on HN.<p>After all is said and done, I think proponents of UBI will find a lot less opposition if this is framed in the context of the progressive taxation debate.<p>In the context of how the ancestrally wealthy pay so little. In the context of how even the most innovative upstarts &amp; the least innovative &amp; moribund mega corporations alike, dodge taxes using shelters abroad.<p>The point is this: middle income families - the few that are left in this country - will not be persuaded so easily to give yet more of their hard earned monies away to those who they see as perennially living on the dole - the welfare dependent &amp; the societal deadbeats. Yes, they will blame the already under-privileged &amp; chronically poor. Not their tax-evading ( even negative tax billing ) corporate overlords.<p>That&#x27;s the way it has been for decades. It won&#x27;t change unless the thought makers find fresh ways to help the middle and low income families see the disparity in taxation.<p>Middle income &amp; low income families have to be weaned away from voting <i>against</i> their own self-interests.