The shift from mutual aid and self-help to the welfare state has involved more than a simple bookkeeping transfer of service provision from one set of institutions to another. As many of the leaders of fraternal societies had feared, much was lost in an exchange that transcended monetary calculations. The old relationships of voluntary reciprocity and autonomy have slowly given way to paternalistic dependency. Instead of mutual aid, the dominant social welfare arrangements of Americans have increasingly become characterized by impersonal bureaucracies controlled by outsiders.
– Dr. David Beito Professor of History, University of Alabama ( From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State: Fraternal Societies and Social Services, 1890-1967)
(H/T: Cafe Hayek)
