He is not the first to tout this idea. In fact, it's been a favorite of Bernie Bro types for a while now. But it's one thing when some lefty chucklehead on Facebook is pushing the idea of a universal, guaranteed minimum income for everyone - provided by the government with no work requirement whatsoever. It's another thing when one of the richest and most influential people in the world signs on.
Some will suggest this is a signal Zuckerberg wants to run for office. I really don't care one way or the other about that. I'd rather focus on merits (or lack thereof) of the idea itself, because it says a lot about the way kings of the technology sector (not to mention certain other industries) have taken to thinking.
Why should everyone get free money from the government, Mark Zuckerberg? Apparently because, if they didn't have to worry about food or shelter, they could focus their energies on building more great things like Facebook: