"Seems like it would work better if the money were given as housing, food, and healthcare insurance vouchers that could only be used for those purposes."
I was asking myself the same at first. The thing is, all those would limit choices, the effect of which would be an object of hate. In addition, in USSR people were directed (or at most offered a choice of a few options) to planned working places where they should live and work, which was in fact just the way they were given many of the other things. As expected, that only spawned an underground markets (for products, services, and even for perspectives) on which were traded choices that weren't freely available. I think therefore that it's better to let everything on the table for the benefit of all.
About the quantity of money, maybe it would be best if this "citizen allowance" to be not a fixed sum, but calculated from how much the state can afford to give. Say it is 50% of the entire budget split on the number of citizens. More money gathered in budget - more per allowance, and if the allowance is getting smaller - the more people are encouraged to get involved as taxpayers. It would be a fair circle and a strong argument for everyone to either shut up or get involved.
I was asking myself the same at first. The thing is, all those would limit choices, the effect of which would be an object of hate. In addition, in USSR people were directed (or at most offered a choice of a few options) to planned working places where they should live and work, which was in fact just the way they were given many of the other things. As expected, that only spawned an underground markets (for products, services, and even for perspectives) on which were traded choices that weren't freely available. I think therefore that it's better to let everything on the table for the benefit of all.
About the quantity of money, maybe it would be best if this "citizen allowance" to be not a fixed sum, but calculated from how much the state can afford to give. Say it is 50% of the entire budget split on the number of citizens. More money gathered in budget - more per allowance, and if the allowance is getting smaller - the more people are encouraged to get involved as taxpayers. It would be a fair circle and a strong argument for everyone to either shut up or get involved.