Some people will spend the money on some way that seems wasteful to you, and that's perfectly okay as well - assuming they're sane adults, it's their business to choose which of their needs matter more and spend the money as they wish; we don't want all the UBI to become a transfer to specific companies running dirt cheap apartments with a food supply program, the recipients having a choice is a good thing that facilitates competition.
Yes, UBI is not a solution to people with major addictions and mental problems; it's not intended to. It does, however, ensure that a person with a mental or drug problem that can't hold a job isn't necessarily required to get their food by begging or crime.
We won't even be confident the results will transfer to the same country at some later time. Lots of things can change over time alone, let alone across populations.
people will stop working or spend the money on some wasteful way
That's not really the argument. What does matter is where does the money come from. Cf These handout incomes are to be given as "an absolute
constitutional right," and not to be withheld "under any
circumstances." This means that the
recipients are to continue to get this income not only if
they absolutely refuse to seek or take a job, but if they
throw the handout money away at the races, or spend it on
prostitutes, on whiskey, cigarettes, marijuana, heroin, or
what not. They are to be given "sufficient to live in
dignity," and it is apparently to be no business of the
taxpayers if a recipient chooses none the less to live
without dignity, and to devote his guaranteed leisure to
gambling, dissipation, drunkenness, debauchery, dope
addiction, or a life of crime
https://fee.org/articles/income-without-work/The morale case with the argument is that citizen should have their say in how their taxes are spend, and that each of one us have different goals so "living in dignity" cannot be accomplished by UBI.
Perhaps you picked a bad quote then. That quote pretty explicitly contradicts your claim.
They are to be given "sufficient to live in
dignity," and it is apparently to be no business of the
taxpayers if a recipient chooses none the less to live
without dignity
Dignity is subjective ofc. If you think otherwise I can understand how you can interpret the quote in another way :)I fail to see how the subjectivity of dignity has any relation to your claim that "What does matter is where does the money come from."
UBI will never solve the economic problem of "we all should be living in dignity", ours values are subjective.
But it's meaningful to see what people will spend the money on, its effect on the local economy (village level), and how this compares to other ways of reducing poverty.
There are still a lot of people who think that people will stop working or spend the money on some wasteful way, and this will tell us whether that's true.