“Why should food stamps let you buy hamburger and feed it to your dog, but not buy dog food?”

SNAP’s fundamental purpose is to help low-income families, the elderly, and people with disabilities afford an adequate diet. Providing a UBI in lieu of SNAP does not ensure needed recipients will be fed. The money from a UBI could be spent on drugs instead of food. Children or grand children of an elderly could forcibly take the UBI funds from an elderly recipient and spend it for their own purposes.

“Feeney sees a UBI as an alternative that “promotes personal responsibility, reduces the humiliations associated with the current system, and reduces administrative waste in government.””

Some people are poor because of demonstrated financial irresponsibility. Is it fair to force them to gain financial responsibility at the risk of starvation or becoming homeless?