[Martian]

I have advocated from before the virus that we should do away with unemployment, and all forms of "welfare" and SNAP, etc.

In my not so humble opinion, we should be working on Universal Basic Income. It is being tried in many places around the world and a few here in the States.

At first, the concept of "giving" money to everyone whether they need it or not seems like an inherently bad idea. But, when you look into the details, it makes a lot of sense. (Assuming you don't believe in letting unemployed die of starvation).

The idea is that "welfare" (any form of payment requiring qualifications) at a national level is doomed to have a significant about of fraud and waste and will encourage people to not go back to work - as has been mentioned in this thread. And the cost of administering a national "safety net" is enormous.

Instead, simply sending a check (or credit a debit card account is better) has a very low cost. And it is much easier to audit. There is very little motivation for individuals to "game the system" since everyone (whether they need it or not) is going to receive the same amount every month.

So far, where this has been tried it is proving to be much less expensive than our current massive bureaucracy.