The Great Society discouraged marriage through moronic incentives. How’d that work out for liberty, justice and the American way?
It just goes to show that state involvement generally destroys everything it touches. This is a benefit as far as the military goes, because we want to destroy whatever we touch. ;-)
When the state tries to meddle with the individual building blocks of society, it invariably creates dependency, unfairness and ruin. Worse, it creates the perception that doling out candy is the role of the government, which makes citizens swing at it like kids chasing a pinata. They all try and hit it harder and harder, getting more and more goodies to drop. Which has led us to where we are now.