Federal welfare assistance to Americans has become such an ingrained part of our lives that most Americans hardly give it a second thought. While “waste, fraud, and abuse” have become a standard part of the welfare-state lexicon, the answer for many is simply, “The system needs reform.”Go look at it all.
Yet when recommended reforms are instituted, “waste, fraud, and abuse” inevitably rear their ugly heads again, which then generates the call for new reforms, perpetuating an endless cycle of problems and reforms.
All this fiddling avoids the central issue: Why not separate charity and the state, in the same manner our ancestors separated church and state? Why not get government totally out of the charity business? I’m suggesting that we do much more than simply repeal all welfare-state programs. I’m suggesting that we go further and elevate our vision to the same level as that of our American ancestors when they separated church and state. I’m suggesting the following amendment to the Constitution: “The federal government shall not provide any subsidy, grant, welfare, aid, loan, or other special privilege to anyone.”
LINK: The separation of charity and state - Jacob Hornberger (via Lindsay Mitchell)
TAGS: Politics, Libertarianism
1 comment:
I had a brief debate about this with someone wanting the state to take over all charity work completely.
That just felt so completely wrong. I suggested perhaps it should be the other way around.
This is a very interesting piece of work that crystallizes my initial thoughts, and gets the juices flowing.
Cool. A very interesting concept worth more thinking. Thanks for pointing it out. And I must visit Lindsay's blog more often.
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