Bacdoor Socialism.

There is a "new" idea percolating among the "Progressives" of the Country: guaranteed annual income. The alleged reason why the State has to support everyone is that automation will take all the jobs and we will have no need of electricians, brick layers, plumbers or truck drivers. The work force will consist of teachers (maybe) and government officials. Everyone else will be paid by the government.

This proposal brings some questions to mind:

1. Who will decide who gets paid and how much?
2. Where will the funds come from?
3. What will people do in their free time?
4. What will motivate people to be creative or even have children?

There has been an attempt in the past to achieve such a system where the government  gave everyone jobs and decided what to pay them. One Russian worker described it as 'the government pretends to pay us and we pretend to work for it.' You had to stand in line for food and there was a shortage of nearly everything, including toilet paper. The most annoying part of the system was how you were told that this was the greatest system and that your living standards were getting better every day.