The Welfare State: Promoting Dependency

Latest Update: October 17, 2016
THOMAS SOWELL: The Left and the Masses 
VIDEO: Nathaniel Branden - The Entitlement Mentality
Gov't dependency a 'narcotic' enabling racial tensions
Sex, drugs and freedom: Why we fail to fix homelessness
VIDEO: Thomas Sowell - Legacy of the Welfare State
THOMAS SOWELL: Is Personal Responsibility Obsolete? Part II
THOMAS SOWELL: Is Personal Responsibility Obsolete?

VIDEO: Thomas Sowell - Legacy of the Welfare State

What Unmarried Women Want: Big Government?

by Elizabeth Nolan Brown.     For most of American history, married women have far outnumbered their single counterparts. But this all changed in 2009, when the proportion of unmarried U.S. women first climbed above 50 percent. And in 2016, unmarried women will—for the first time—make up a majority of the potential female      ... MORE

Jeff Nesbit: We Have Lost The War On Drugs

Criminalizing drugs just destroys more people.     It's time, finally, to face the ugly truth. We've lost the war on drugs in America. We need a new playbook, now, before more lives are lost. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week that fatal drug overdoses in America were the highest in recorded history in 2014. The news   ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - Dependency Culture Hurts Blacks

VIDEO: John Stossel - Playing The Victim

Walter E Williams: Wasn't Always This Way

A conclusion not supported by the facts.   Academics and public intellectuals, who should know better, attempt to explain the highly visible and publicized pathology witnessed in cities such as Baltimore, Detroit, Chicago, Ferguson and others as a legacy of slavery. The argument is made that the problems encountered by many black Americans  ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - Downsizing Government

Thomas Sowell: The Fact-Free Left

Somebody wants poverty and dependence.    The outrage over another multiple murder of American military personnel on American soil by another Islamic extremist has been exacerbated by the fact that these military people had been ordered to be unarmed — and therefore sitting ducks. Millions of American civilians have also been forbidden   ... MORE

William L Schachte: A Declaration Of Energy Independence

Ending dependence on foreign oil. The United States is closer than ever before to fulfilling the vision of our Founding Fathers. By achieving energy independence, we can achieve freedom from foreign influence. Yet on the basis of alarmist and groundless claims, the Obama administration is balking on two key elements of this new energy security:      ... MORE

Why Kids Who Aren’t Poor Now Get Free School Lunches

by Valerie Strauss.  Spreading the realm of dependency. It used to be that students from families with low incomes qualified for lunches that were either free or available at a reduced price. That’s still true — but now, new federal rules allow kids who aren’t poor at many schools to get the same thing. The change in the rules means not only that   ... MORE

VIDEO: Free Range Kids & Gov't Fear Of Healthy Childhood

Peter Holley: Kansas Wants To Ban Welfare Recipients From Swimming Or Seeing Movies On Government’s Dime

A downside of government being your daddy.   There’s nothing fun about being on welfare, and a new Kansas bill aims to keep it that way. If House Bill 2258 is signed into law by Gov. Sam Brownback, R, this week, Kansas families receiving government assistance will no longer be able to use those funds to visit swimming pools, see movies, go   ... MORE

65% of Children Live in Federally Aided Households

by Terence P Jeffrey. The Census Bureau reported in a study released this week that 65 percent of American children lived in households taking aid from one or more federal program as of the fall of 2011. "Almost two-thirds (65 percent) of children," said the Census Bureau, "lived in households that participated in at least one or more of the      ...  MORE

Jeffrey Tucker: 50 Shades Of Government

Time to let go of dependency.   Every politically active group wants something from government, and government is happy to oblige. It’s even more obvious in the election season. Another way to put it: Government has lots to give in the way of laws, loot, privileges, protections and punishments. Every pressure group and political  ... MORE

Walter E Williams: Can Racial Discrimination Explain Much?

Rationalization is not reason.    In the medical profession, there is the admonition primum non nocere, the Latin expression for "first, do no harm." In order not to do harm, at the minimum, requires accurate diagnostics. Suppose a patient presents with abdominal pains, and the physician diagnoses it as caused by the patient's ingrown      ... MORE

Keep Them Down, Keep Them Dependent

How to prevent the young and poor from succeeding.   Let’s face it. I’m not that young anymore. I’m also not poor anymore, and I live a comfortable middle-class American life. Most older, better off middle-classers like me got where we are through the dynamic market process. The trouble is, now that we’re doing pretty well, that same     ... MORE

Thomas Sowell: A Primer On Race

The state against blacks.         Back in the heyday of the British Empire, a man from one of the colonies addressed a London audience. "Please do not do any more good in my country," he said. "We have suffered too much already from all the good that you have done." That is essentially the message of an outstanding new book by Jason   ... MORE

Liz Peek: Obama Promotes A Society Of Helpless Victims

Dependency sells.     Eric Holder stirred up a hornet’s nest the other day, whining to a mostly black crowd about the ill treatment he received from a Congressional Committee. Holder seemed to imply that he and President Obama have come in for rough treatment because they are black. It was a stunning comment. This is, after all, Eric Holder,  ... MORE

Walter E Williams: Dependency, Not Poverty

There is no material poverty in the U.S.     Here are a few facts about people whom the Census Bureau labels as poor. Dr. Robert Rector and Rachel Sheffield, in their study "Understanding Poverty in the United States: Surprising Facts About America's Poor", report that 80 percent of poor households have air conditioning; nearly three-quarters      ... MORE