It would basically create a slave class.
No it wouldn't. People would be compensated at a fair rate for the work they did. And they would have some choice in what job they performed. Not to mention that they would have the option of spending that time for a private employer and forgoing the government aid.
The biggest problem with government aid isn't the money spent. It's the erosion of the work ethic. Some of the ideas I propose would actually cost more in the short term, but would broaden the tax base in the long term by reducing unemployment and reducing the income gap.
Based on what you posted above you seem to think that the wealthy are to blame for the lack of upward mobility in today's poor. I contend that the ease of getting by without working has done more to widen the income disparity than anything any CEO or bank has done.
I hire people who are generally at the bottom rung of the economic ladder. My biggest competitors in the labor market are government entitlements and the ability to sell drugs on the street. People who are dirt poor and unmotivated would much rather stay home and do nothing for their $300 per week of take home pay rather than busting their ass in an unglamorous job for 20-40 hours per week, and I can't blame them. We promote from within for just about every job we have, so a motivated employee with a good work ethic won't be stuck in a $8-$9 per hour job per long, but most people either can't or won't look far enough ahead to realize that. We as a society have made it too easy for people to subsist at an acceptable standard of living (to them) without putting forth any effort.
A direct quote from a former employee: "Why in the hell would I work four hours for you to get $35 dollars two weeks from now when I can sell a bag of weed for $30 in ten minutes?" Marijuana legalization and drug decriminalization are a start, but are also a topic for another day.
Our country should always have a safety net, but that net should also ease people back towards the top instead of tangling them up to where they can only get out with extraordinary effort.