The Personal Effects of Welfare

As a libertarian, I make a lot of arguments against welfare, bailouts, etc. Most of these deal with economics and how it is bad for America. But welfare also enacts a personal cost, and I don't mean what you see on your paycheck stub. It makes you alter your choices in ways that seem beneficial in the short run but are harmful in the long run. Here are some of these effects that I see on a day-to-day basis among friends, coworkers, family, etc.

SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security tells old people that they need to retire. So, when people hit 62, they opt to receive those benefits right then and there instead of waiting until they are 65 or 70. During that interim between 62 and 65, they can't make too much money, or they will forfeit that free income. So, they decide to work out deals with employers where they can be partial bums working just enough to get that SS check. Then, you have everyone else hitting 65 and deciding to never hit a lick again. Considering these people will probably live another 20 years, that is a lot of laziness. Granted, these folks paid into the system, so it is understandable that they would want to get some back. But I am not concerned with the fairness of it or any of that in this essay. I only look at what it does to personal choices.

Social Security encourages people to become obsolete. It idles people who are still very productive, very smart, and what have you. It also hurts older people who choose to work as companies install mandatory retirement ages and see these people as codgers who should be forced out the door. The quickest way to get old is to stop working. We have a lot of people opting to rust out instead of wearing out. This is a shame.

MILITARY DISABILITY

I have personally sat in on bull sessions where military veterans told of all the ways they could get freebies from "Uncle Sugar" for their military service. This comes in the form of disability checks. The government compensates military personnel who have suffered as a consequence of their service. For a wounded veteran, this is very just. Unfortunately, we now have epidemics of tinnitus, depression, and post-traumatic disorder as these service people look to milk the system by faking disabilities. It makes a mockery of military service.

CHILD SUPPORT

I think divorced and unmarried parents should support their children financially. The best way to do this is to have a separate account for that child to pay for their expenses such as clothing, school supplies, food, education, etc. But it doesn't work like that. The reality is that daddy sends a check to mommy or has it taken out of his check. Mommy doesn't work but spends the child support on cigarettes, malt liquor, lottery tickets, crack, or whatever. Naturally, this is never enough, so they go back to court to get more "child" support. The daddy knows the truth of where his money is going, so he fights it. This makes him a bad man who doesn't support his children. Mommy tells the kids that daddy doesn't give a fuck about them. Children grow up thinking they are poor because daddy doesn't pay enough child support. It isn't because mommy quit her job and drinks all day.

PENSIONS

I have lost count of the people who told me their career ambition is to get a government job and a government pension. We all know government workers are lazy and overpaid and a pain in the ass to deal with. They don't care about customer service because you are going to pay them whether you like it or not. Their compensation is not tied in anyway to the work they do. They can do it well or not, but they will get paid. Then, they turn retirement age and collect a pension which allows them to stop "working" or simply double dip by getting "rehired" into the same job they were doing except with a double income. This warps their thinking into believing they contribute more to society than they actually do. Why not? They are getting paid well to treat us like shit.

UNION WORKERS

Yankees from union states get union jobs at inflated wages where they milk their employers and threaten to strike on them. The result is that wages are high, prices are high, and unemployment is high in those states. Then, these union workers retire on some pension, come down South to enjoy the better cost of living, and then bitch and complain about everything. The reason it is better down here in the southern states is because we don't have unions. This is why you can afford housing, clothing, and transportation here. It is also why you can find a job. But a job doesn't count to these transplanted Yankees unless it is a union job. A union is just a way for a lazy piece of shit to protect his income from real workers who actually earn their pay instead of extorting it. But employers are wise to this which is why they have learned down here to discriminate against white guys from Michigan, New York, New Jersey, etc. This is why white blue collar males are the largest group of unemployed people today despite critical shortages in many trades. They would rather be blowhards and threaten their bosses than do real work for a change.

STUDENT LOANS AND GRANTS

Not everyone should go to college. This may seem like a shocker for some people and even taken as an insult. But I don't mean it to be insulting. As anyone who reads my blog knows, I am blue collar and prefer that to anything my college degree might get me. I'd like to go back and attend a trade school instead of law school or business school. This country has too many college graduates and drop outs, and this is because of all the money the government pumps out to go to school. Nevermind that there are no jobs there.

I see people electing to go back to school to finish bachelor's degrees, attain MBA's, go to law school or med school, or what have you. Some of these people are the young. Others are non-traditional students. But one fact hits me in the face when I see these people. They all hate books. They hate school. They are only going because they want to make some more money, and Uncle Sugar is willing to lend. Yet, it makes no sense for them to do this.

I tell people they should do things they are good at and like but can also make a living at. There is a reason I don't play in the NBA. I cannot dunk a basketball. But imagine if there was a Basketball University where Uncle sugar would pay my tuition to learn how to play basketball. Sweet deal, right? Except for one thing. I can't play basketball. I suck too bad at it. Yet, I see people going to school on just such premises. But these people would do better learning a trade or developing the one they have. But this route doesn't promise a six figure income, so they decide against it especially when they might have to pay out of their pockets. The result is that people opt to be failed college grads and drop outs instead of successful tradesmen and women.

CONCLUSION

My advice to people is to never take welfare as far as possible for them. This is because welfare creates distorting effects and makes you do things that make no sense or may be harmful to you. Regardless of the injustice of it all, it is better to be a net loser than a net gainer in the welfare/tax scheme. In other words, it is better to pay all your taxes and not get a penny back than not pay a penny in tax and derive massive benefits from the government and/or other sources. This is because work is an unqualified good and anything that disincentivizes work is an unqualified evil. Likewise, decisions you make with your small money will be way better than decisions you make with Uncle Sugar's large money.

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