THE WELFARE IMPERATIVE
The British economist, John Maynard Keynes, considered to be a semi-socialist once said, “The political problem of mankind is to combine three things: economic efficiency, social justice and individual liberty.” Fair enough. Unfortunately, the Democrats who swear allegiance to Keynes turned to social welfare and subsidies to accomplish these objectives. To say it didn’t work is an understatement.
When you give people money they didn’t earn it often hurts them more than it helps them. Yes, it can aid people for short periods of time, but over the long term it tends to coarsen their behavior. Free money is often ruinous to good character and that fact applies to all races. The burgeoning welfare class is a problem everywhere in America. On the left, the solution is invariably to give the underclass more money. On the right, there is no answer other than we can’t reduce welfare benefits. Another way to put it is that we dare not reduce these payments for fear of riots and revolution. Once social welfare begins, it can’t be stopped. That means welfare spending and the number of welfare recipients will likely increase over time. Looking into the future, the welfare problem could become so expensive it bankrupts the nation. So we are confronted with the Catch-22 of all time. How do we stop the growth of welfare before it proves fatal to the nation’s finances and how do we do it without hurting people?
