Our present welfare system is without a doubt one of the worst monstrosities of
big government. It encourages indolence; it rewards fraud; and it provides an economic
incentive for promiscuity and illegitimacy.
The whole towering edifice of our present welfare system has been built upon
the immoral premise that government coercion can legitimately be used to force some
men’s work to be placed in the service of other men’s needs. The right of all men to life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness, has thus been transformed into the right of some
men to live at another’s expense.
The welfare mess will never be straightened out so long as government
encourages people to think of welfare payments as a right. A man has a right to what he
earns and to equal treatment under the law. Beyond that, his genuine need is a moral
claim on others’ generosity; it is not a license to take what others have earned.
One can’t realistically expect the entrenched monstrosity to abruptly end but
we need to start somewhere and the best place to start is for the federal government to
end welfare and leaving welfare to the states and private charity.
Sincerely,
Ron Baert