That is, besides an evil Government that disarms its citizenry and then uses ITS guns to control people.
Emphasis mine:
The poverty we have today is spiritual poverty. Spiritual poverty is an absence of what traditionally has been known as various human virtues. Much of that spiritual poverty is a result of public and private policy that rewards inferiority and irresponsibility. Chief among the policies that reward inferiority and irresponsibility is the welfare state.
-Prof Walter Williams (Economics, George Mason University, Today and Yesterday)
It also is responsible for an overwhelming dependency on Government for everything. And given no skin in the game, human nature always wants more – even as they have worked for nothing. Why not demand more – they aren’t paying for it? When Government supplies all, a form of selfishness sets in that fuels that demand. The problem is that there is no concern for the fact that before Government can anything to anyone, it must first take it (by force) from others. It is both taken from those productive people today and it, when Government borrows to give stuff now, it “takes” from future generations.
Creating poverty of the spirit, which I have seen close up and in person during our DayCare owning days, is the most evil things that Government can and does do. Roads, good intentions, and all that – it still leads to despair. Progressives always want more of it but are always unwilling to do the work themselves (at least, the vast majority). They wail and cry about “the injustice of it all” but always take that attitude that someone else has to do something about it – and that always means “Bigger Government” – they outsource what should be their responsibility to Government, nod approvings, and happy that intentions have been fulfilled.
Actual results are like masks preventing virus spread. And they don’t care as they’ve already washed their hands of it and moved on to the next thing to worry about safe from knowing if Government has actually done anything but move money around.
Hey, wait! Isn’t that the same argument that the environmentalists (successfully, I have to add) use in trying to turn off the Spigots of Standards of Living (naturual resources) so that “future generations” will prosper. Yet, these Eco-Socialists say not word one about behaving the same with financial resources.
(H/T: Cafe Hayek)
