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Sowell: Is Personal Responsibility Obsolete?
Creators Syndicate ^ | June 7, 2016 | Thomas Sowell

Posted on 06/06/2016 11:09:07 AM PDT by jazusamo

Among the many disturbing signs of our times are conservatives and libertarians of high intelligence and high principles who are advocating government programs that relieve people of the necessity of working to provide their own livelihoods.

Generations ago, both religious people and socialists were agreed on the proposition that "he who does not work, neither shall he eat." Both would come to the aid of those unable to work. But the idea that people who simply choose not to work should be supported by money taken from those who are working was rejected across the ideological spectrum.

How we got to the present situation is a long story, but the painful fact is that we are here now. Among the leading minds of our times, including Charles Murray today and the late and great Milton Friedman earlier, there have been proposals for ways of subsidizing the poor without the suffocating distortions of the government's welfare state bureaucracy.

Professor Friedman's plan for a negative income tax to help the poor has already been put into practice. But, contrary to his intention to have this replace the welfare state bureaucracy, it has been simply tacked on to all the many other government programs, instead of replacing them.

It is not inevitable that the same thing will happen to Charles Murray's plan, but I would bet the rent money that there would be the same end result.

(Excerpt) Read more at creators.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: sowell; taxes; thomassowell; welfare
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To: theBuckwheat
believe in the Commandments

believe in the Commandments Commandent.

Love thy neighbor

41 posted on 06/07/2016 6:03:20 AM PDT by MosesKnows (Love Many, Trust Few, and Always Paddle Your Own Canoe)
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To: oldbrowser

someone will have to build the machines.

I think we could all eventually go to 3 day work weeks, where you work 3 10-hour days

I would dig ditches if I could have 4 days a week off, every week.


42 posted on 06/07/2016 12:50:49 PM PDT by Mr. K (Trump will win NY state - choke on that HilLIARy)
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To: conservatism_IS_compassion

“Separating responsibility from authority is a cardinal sin of (mis)management.”

One of the first things I learned in the world of work is that people who speak of delegating RESPONSIBILITY are fools. You can only delegate AUTHORITY, the responsibility is created by assumption of authority. Unfortunately I have had to try to work with people who are incapable of understanding this.


43 posted on 06/08/2016 5:21:15 AM PDT by RipSawyer (Racism is racism, regardless of the race of the racist.)
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To: RipSawyer
people who are incapable of understanding this
. . . make you wonder about democracy . . .

Sigh.


44 posted on 06/08/2016 7:19:18 AM PDT by conservatism_IS_compassion ('Liberalism' is a conspiracy against the public by wire-service ing.)
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