Introduction
A basic income (also called basic income guarantee, Citizen's Income, unconditional basic income, universal basic income (UBI), or universal demogrant) is a form of social security in which all citizens or residents of a country receive a regular, unconditional sum of money, either from a government or some other public institution, independent of any other income.
Viability
United States of America
Sam Altman stated in the podcast Freakonomics that, even if 90% of people smoked weed and played video games while 10% of the people go create new incredible products and services and new wealth, that's still a huge net-win.
Switzerland
There was a national vote in Switzerland in June 2016 which proposed a national basic income. Though no amount of specified in the vote, previous attempts suggested 2,500 francs per month (thought to be at 2014 PPP) for an adult and 625 francs per month for a child. The proposal was defeated.
Current Projects
Stockton, California, United States of America
Michael Tubbs, the mayor of Stockton, California announced plans to implement a basic income program that would give 130 recipients a basic monthly income of $500 for twelve to eighteen months. The funding for this project comes from a grant provided by the Economic Security Project via philanthropic funding. Payments began on February 15, 2019.