There are various policies that generally shrink the individual burden in a way that also shrinks the public burden.

One of those is a good health care system. It benefits the public to make sure everyone can see a doctor if they need to, even if they are broke.

Letting poor people just get sicker and sicker tends to negatively impact other people and force costs up. When done well, universal health care doesn't inherently have adverse incentives. It doesn't actively encourage people to get sick so they can consume more medical care.

Another area that can simultaneously shrink individual burden and public burden is good housing policies that make it possible for people of limited means to find adequate housing that supports a reasonable quality of life.

In America, "affordable housing" has more or less become synonymous with slum housing. Slum housing tends to help trap people in poverty by limiting access to education, jobs, shopping, etc.

We have a nationwide shortage of affordable housing. I mean actual affordable housing, not slum housing.

Off the top of my head, health care is something crazy high, like 20 percent of GDP. For most households, housing is the single biggest household expense in the budget.

Transportation is typically the second largest expense because America makes it nigh impossible to live without a car. That fact is largely rooted in and tied up with housing policy.

If you provide universal health care and shrink the overall cost of health care while making it a lighter burden for individuals with health issues who are likely to have trouble earning an adequate income because of their health, you will remove a big chunk of the financial burden for America generally and especially for the most burdened Americans.

So just spitballing here, if you theoretically make health care free, you theoretically remove up to 20 percent of the financial burden from people -- possibly more for many people.

Some people are paying more than half their income in rent, and another like 25 or 30 percent on transportation. If they can have a life without having a car and can find a home for far less money, you begin to get to the point where a part-time minimum wage job can keep body and soul together.

If you have a small retirement check or something like that, intermittent gig work can be enough to make your life work adequately well.

That's currently out of reach for the vast majority of Americans. It shouldn't be.

It should be readily possible to find a small, cheap residential space, live without a car and get medical care even when you are flat broke. Then, you only need some really minimal income to get by and you can dream of better things and work towards them.

At that point, most people can find some way to muddle through.

I would be for expanding our military medical benefits such that any term of military service gives you access to the military medical system for life.

I would be for expanding and enhancing our Earned Income Credit on federal taxes.

I would be for being freer about providing food stamps with a lot less means testing, etc.

But a universal basic income makes no sense. Elon Musk doesn't need a check from the government for $10k annually.

Anyway, I'm running a fever, not feeling well and no longer sure where to go with this ramble. You have a good day.