I am inclined to agree with you here and this is my second biggest concern with Yang’s Basic Income proposal (the first is, as you mentioned, the lack of a provision for funding for minors). I agree with you in that the current welfare system existing in tandem with this new Basic Income system would be too complex for most people to decide between and my thought is that most would end up with the “default” option whichever that may be. This seems like a good use of some Nudge theory practices.

Thanks for writing this- great article!