Wikimedia Commons When people first hear about basic income — the notion that society might function better if all people get regular checks for doing absolutely nothing — their first reaction is often one of confusion.

How could society function if no one needs to work for a living?

If they pride themselves on being red-blooded Americans, their next response tends to be indignation.

They can't believe someone could propose something so un-American as paying people whether or not they work.

But here's the thing die-hard patriots overlook: Basic income is just about the most American form of social security there is — because if there's one thing that trumps the American obsession with hard work, it's the American obsession with freedom. And that's precisely what basic income promises to provide.

If basic income were implemented in the US, the entire population would receive a fixed quantity of money each month, no strings attached. Some might use it to cover their rent, others a new set of clothes or the savings toward starting their own business. The amount wouldn't be enough to replace an existing salary, but the sum would cover the essentials, like food and shelter. Hence, basic income.

That extra dose of security, advocates argues, ends up being massively liberating.

"If you talk to lots of Americans, they feel very trapped — whether it's in their job or a relationship they feel unable to get out of," Jim Pugh, a San Francisco-based basic income expert, tells Tech Insider. "If you have a basic income, this is something that's going to provide you the freedom to look for new options."

The idea is alluring because it promises to unshackle people from jobs they don't find fulfilling. Artists who work desk jobs could potentially rent out a studio and leave their cubicle behind, or new parents could adopt more flexible schedules — or one could quit altogether — instead of relying on a dual income.

In just about every case, giving people more money to support themselves would free them from the obligation to define themselves by what they do for a living. Instead, they could pride themselves on things that have nothing to do with their professional lives: traits like creativity or generosity. With basic income, people would have the freedom not to compromise their sense of autonomy for survival.

The system could also be a crucial factor in avoiding economic collapse once robot automation is in full swing. For instance, the best estimates find that up to 50% of jobs risk automation by the late 2030s. Giving people money for no work could be the only solution once robots gobble up most of the labor.

Critics may still suggest that, if jobs are lost to automation, basic income couldn't offer liberating alternatives to work because there would be no work to do.

Not true. In that case, basic income would allow people who currently cherish the value of work to keep working and give them the freedom to do that work for its own sake.

A small-town farmer, for example, could choose to judge his success by how pleased he is with his yield, without worrying about the commercial viability of his crops or the threat of competition from industrial farming. He could lead a life where personal satisfaction is derived internally and defined on his own terms.

And that's incredibly freeing, not to mention American to its core.