In every single article you read about UBI (universal basic income) you read about all the wonderful utopian possibilities. I have not seen one article mention what I believe will be the truth. The governments of the world will use it as a threat against behavior they want modified or won’t tolerate.
If you get a few DUIs what happens? They take away your license because driving is a privilege. Well, imagine being poor and needing the monthly UBI money and the government tells you that if you do this specific act you will lose your UBI.
It will be subtle at first and resemble some typical government hoop-jumping bureaucracy. Then a slippery slope of things you cannot do will slowly erode your rights. Did you attend a protest? In the U.S., the First Amendment grants you the right to do that but UBI is not a right it is a privilege so you lose your UBI.
He who has the gold makes the rules.
They already do all this with social safety net programs like Social Security and HUD/Section 8. Go to jail, lose your benefits. Every year is a ton of hoop jumping and massive stress while I recertify for my housing voucher and the measly $2 in food stamps they give my family per month. And that’s without me even going to protests anymore.