It seems to me that taking money from the government is hardly granting power, whereas paying into the government is and, of course, being dependant on them. Their preference is for you to be paying taxes and not claiming anything, which is why they don't exactly make it an easy process for you to claim anything back. My husband was recently made redundant along with 1000s of others and the 'financial advice' the government man gave them was on trying to make their redundancy last as long as possible so that they wouldn't have to claim jobseekers for as long as possible, even once they were eligible.
Some have suggested that enough money taken from the system could break the system. At the moment, the governments are cutting benefits in every way possible and going all out to claw in more money in taxes in every way possible, including trying to find any citizens overseas who they might be able to get more from. The US government has the UK banks sending out declarations to any of their own citizens overseas even. Having experienced how desperately they are upping the stakes to try and get more money coming in, I'm inclined to think that as the economy is collapsing and they are paying more out in benefits this government system could also be collapsing.
Of course I'm talking about the current system as it is in place now. However, as you were saying, basic income for all could very well be a government control dream. I believe there was already talk about chipping for the Medicare system, so I wouldn't put it past them to chip for a system like this. So I agree that we should never put ourselves in a situation where we come to rely on them. I'm under no illusions they care about anything other than themselves and their own comforts.
As I'm writing this I'm realising that many of us have the same goals, but we are all taking slightly different paths to them. I admire what you're doing, it's certainly not an easy path you've chosen and I expect you have and will make a lot of sacrifices. Many don't want to make sacrifices and I fear that they are the majority and will play directly into the government's hands.