I am a business-friendly Communist

Are We Overpaying Grandpa? - Economix Blog - NYTimes.com: "The total annual income in the United States (national income, as economists call it) is about $12.5 trillion, or about $40,000 per person per year.� The egalitarian view of government is that it taxes persons with annual incomes more than $40,000, and pays benefits to persons with less than $40,000, so that those with less than average incomes could enjoy living standards closer to the average."

Which got me thinking: what if we actually did that? What if we basically guaranteed every worker, say, about $40k per year? The only catch is, one would have to work to qualify, even a legal small business.

The nightmare scenario is a bunch of people doing as little as humanly possible, but still getting a bunch of money. But so what?

Think of it as a huge subsidy for small business: they would only have to pay minimum wage. Or, we could do away with the minimum wage.

I know this doesn't make any sense, because of inflation and etc, but it's a fun notion.