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Monday, January 05, 2009
Welfare without the welfare state: A Christmas story
David Seymour, Senior Policy Analyst with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, thinks the private charitable giving we see over Christmas could happen all year round, if the state would just get out of the way.
In "Welfare without the welfare state: A Christmas story," Seymour writes:
Christmas is now behind us, along with another seasonal wave of feel-good stories featuring voluntary charity. We’ve all read the stories: One community raised money for an ill mother requiring an operation; Churches across the country prepared meals to help the needy afford Christmas cheer; generous companies trumpeted their donations of presents to children who would have otherwise gone without. The federal government, meanwhile, was content to issue press statements claiming Canadian citizenship for Santa Claus.
Now is the time to reflect on some of the lessons we can learn from this outpouring of goodwill. Is there any reason the “Spirit of Christmas” cannot replace, or at least complement, sterile and banal public policy debates in the search for solutions to some of our intractable problems? Why should the normal run of things be banal public policy debates in the first place?
These are good questions, and you can continue reading "Welfare without the welfare state: A Christmas story" here for the answers.
Somehow Seymour was left off the Liberty 100. That was sloppiness on my part that will almost certainly be remedied for next year.
Posted by Matthew Johnston
Posted by Western Standard on January 5, 2009 | Permalink
Comments
My father told me about what charity it was like in old time Mennonite communities. There was very little incentive for fraud. And if you were dumb enough to contemplate engaging in it anyway, the fear of shame you would have to endure would prevent you from carrying it out.
Not all was good in those communities, but this is an example of how incredibly well charity worked in a free market, when no government was there to help.
Posted by: TM | 2009-01-05 11:15:38 AM
You're exactly right, TM, as usual.
My mother, who is a socialist, grew up in a poor area of London, England. She supports the welfare state, but acknowledges that removing the stigma and shame of welfare has normalized it. As a consequence, we now see generational welfare, instead of temporary relief.
It is a lot easier to take advantage of a faceless government than it is your neighbour or church.
Posted by: Matthew Johnston | 2009-01-05 11:35:39 AM
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