Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
The welfare system often encourages people to rely on government rather than on their own abilities.
Read more: fee.org/articles/beyond-the-welfare-state
What makes a country grow is the ability of individuals to seize opportunities, create value, and exchange freely with others. Yet expansive welfare programs teach people not to pursue opportunities, but to extend their hands in hopes of receiving whatever crumbs the government distributes. This shift—from work and initiative to dependency—weakens the very foundations of prosperity.
Developed nations did not become wealthy through rent-seeking or subsidy-seeking. They grew because individuals were free to build businesses, innovate, and take risks, knowing they could keep the rewards of their efforts. As Thomas Sowell once observed, welfare often amounts to deliberately subsidizing failure: when poor choices are rewarded, more poor choices follow.
The welfare system often encourages people to rely on government rather than on their own abilities.
Read more: fee.org/articles/beyond-the-welfare-state
What makes a country grow is the ability of individuals to seize opportunities, create value, and exchange freely with others. Yet expansive welfare programs teach people not to pursue opportunities, but to extend their hands in hopes of receiving whatever crumbs the government distributes. This shift—from work and initiative to dependency—weakens the very foundations of prosperity.
Developed nations did not become wealthy through rent-seeking or subsidy-seeking. They grew because individuals were free to build businesses, innovate, and take risks, knowing they could keep the rewards of their efforts. As Thomas Sowell once observed, welfare often amounts to deliberately subsidizing failure: when poor choices are rewarded, more poor choices follow.
