Leviticus 25:39-55 & Deuteronomy 15:1-9.
And when you understand that system as such, and realize that the only difference between slavery and the welfare state as we know it is individual ownership with accountability v. collective ownership with none, then answer this: How is the latter not socialism that leads to tyranny?
There truly are people out there incapable of managing themselves. Should our incompetent brethren be the property of a state bureaucracy beholden to those in power or the responsibility of individuals subject to punishment for mistreatment?
The problem is this: we have forever interpreted the idea of indenture in terms of how it was done in the American South, European serfdom, Arab brutality, the Romans, Mongols, etc. In principle, it doesn't have to be that way. Yet with a socialized underclass empowered to vote, we now see them voting according to the preference of the very rich, which is to collectivize ALL property under a state they control. Perhaps that is why it is taught otherwise in the Torah?
I know this is a volatile thing to write, but upon reflection, I am beginning to realize the long-term consequences of the social welfare state are that NO ONE has responsibility for the poor, an ever expanding class of indentured constituency.
In principle, if state officials mistreat wards of the state they ought to be liable to punishment beyond the mere political. But this is talking about people who have a real reason to be such wards (e.g. they are insane, or they are imprisoned for some crime).
It’s just senseless to expect the state to be everybody’s nanny. The state doesn’t possess the wisdom and a wise state (oxymoron?) would understand that.