Andrew Sullivan quotes a reader that echoes a point he made in the Conservative Soul.
If I’m forced to act in a Christian manner by threat of law, am I
really a Christian? Seems like this is quite detrimental to the Church.
And to be honest, I’m less afraid of social conservatives in this
regard as I am of fiscal liberals. If the government hijacks my income
to redistribute it into some form of pork designed to help the less
fortunate, especially when it doesn’t go toward its intended purpose
anyway, not only are they stealing from me, but they’re preventing me
from being charitable. It’s destructive for all parties.
The poor aren’t a tool put here for well-to-does personality morality play. They are individuals with their own interests and their "individual freedom" is generally a lot more constrained by economic conditions than the freedom of those capable of noblesse oblige.
This applies to me as well of course. The poor aren’t here to provide fiscal liberals with the benefit of being charitable with other people’s money. What matters is outcomes. Rampant poverty, beyond generating immense suffering, can be a nightmare for society at large. Creating a underclass that lacks hope of advancement almost inevitably leads to crime and violence.
I tend to think that preventing such an underclass is accomplished most easily with government programs that provide some essentials and shift the overall incentive structure. Poorly designed programs can get in the way and should be changed or dropped. But the marginal increase in personal freedom for the poor from an effective programs is much greater than the marginal decrease in freedom that comes from taxation.
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