In this country, we have the capability to provide everyone with a basic living standard. People shouldn’t have to fight for that. They should have the opportunity to compete for things beyond a basic standard and they will. I’d argue that such a program would result in more creativity, more curiosity, and less general misery. I see this in small places, in comments students write when they see something they hadn’t noticed before, even the tough ones, who think they know everything. A line of poetry nudges one to remark on an alternative, and from then on it’s up to them. It goes beyond quantification.

Just a thought.