but what if the basic income allows people to generate things? those people are not necessarily idle. The idea of a basic income is that they don't have to 'worry' about income. So they can go and focus on doing something they enjoy like create art, make an app, write a book etc, that they can potentially sell and supplement their basic income. You could receive a basic income and still get paid to get contract work from time to time for example. Most people want to be creative or engage in society in some way, even if it just contributing to the social spaces they operate within.