Stripping that quote of all historical respect we have for Adam Smith, and answering head on: a guaranteed basic income seems like a much better way to reach these goals than to outlaw employment below a certain threshold of income.
I'm rather in favour if a government as employer of last resort. One option is to then resell that labour, at a loss in cases, to qualified businesses.
We're already subsidizing labour, but without consideration to net social benefit. That at least should change.
