The issue is "are the recipients spending the money well"? Are they saving, and using the money to advance themselves, and budgeting? Or is it all going to "waste" and doing nothing productive?
Even just spending it on better food, better clothes, or going to the movies is spending it well. It's UBI, intended to be used as a tool to put a floor on standard of living, not a scholarship or a 401k match.
> Why would you target productivity over quality of life?
I'm not sure that I do that, but the general public absolutely will. The taxpaying public will absolutely not tolerate a UBI that just funnels money into drug cartels, etc. You need to show that the UBI is useful or helpful somehow, not just that it makes people happy.
Spain got something close [3] (but not exactly UBI) recently. I would not be surprised to see this trend continue, either voluntarily or because nation states exhaust all other options.
[1] https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/03/20/a-wider-par...
[2] https://www.google.com/search?q=direct+cash+transfers+povert...
[3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23351708 (HN: Spain approves national minimum income scheme)
If i get 2k a month and spend it on drugs, you don't see quality of life improve.
It is being spent well because they are keeping a roof over their heads and themselves fed and not worrying about where thhe next meal comes from.
You don't see what they spent it on, but they have found a way to spend these funds to improve their situation.