A universal basic income no strings attached is actually a hell of a lot better than a conventional welfare state in a lot of ways. Of course, only if it supplants the welfare state, and doesn't add to it. The problem is, any government that tries the UBI is going to also give free healthcare, huge restrictions to the way businesses operate, so it will end up just bankrupting the country. But if you got rid of all of that shit and just took money from rich people and gave it directly to poor people, and let the free market be as free as it could be under those conditions, I would consider the situation to be much-improved.