In the U.S., the top 0.001% already have UBI by virtue of the corrupting taint of lobbyists / super PACs influence greatly expanded corporate (capitalist) welfare using legitimized legal trickery (ie tax code, commercial&civil law), while the rest of the people subsidize trickle-down deception, massive tax-breaks, offshoring and so on (likely because they lack the political connections and grassroots organization+leadership to mount an effective opposition). The American Dream has withered for many whom feel diffusely angry for sliding into desperate, meaningless, retail, part-time jobs or idleness... drugs, alcohol, crime and Trumpistan are just the unfortunate symptoms of oversupply of labor and the need for many more businesses to find sustainable, good-paying jobs that add value so people can choose to have some purpose and self-confidence.

What has worked:

- Stronger (ie sans "right-to-work")/more-effective/less-corrupt unions

- Much higher, graduated corporate tax rates

- Simplified, progressive personal & corporate income taxes (ie Norway's personal tax system by SMS is often quite user-friendly)

See also:

- Robert Reich's "Inequality for All"

- Michael Moore's "Where to Invade Next?"

- Basically every day on Thom Hartmann