Thursday, August 15, 2013

SNAP Ends Don't Justify the Immoral Means

In response to the severing of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program from the House of Representatives' farm bill, the Washington Post's Melinda Henneberger asks Food stamps work, so why are we cutting them?

As proof that food stamps "work," Henneberger highlights the plight of some people who, but for the food stamps, would either go hungry of have to skimp on other necessities like rent and medicine.

My comments:

The proponents of welfare state programs are all phonies. They seek the unearned prestige of being a champion of the poor, by forcing others to pay for their "compassionate" craving through their taxes. They have no respect for the rights of others to live by their own judgment and conscience, to decide when, how, who, and in what capacity to help others. Peel back [a welfare statist's] thin veneer of moral posturing, and what you expose is a thief—the worst kind of thief, the dishonest kind who won't acknowledge that his whole scheme is built on theft. Worse, they lie to their recipients by telling them that they are morally worthy of their "free food," rather than the truth: Food stamp beneficiaries are participating in a legal crime by receiving stolen property. Welfare statists deserve not one shred of moral credit, no matter what their high-minded ends. Ends don't justify means. 
 
People who oppose the welfare state are the true moral heroes—the compassionate ones—because they stand for people taking care of themselves and their families by their own efforts. They defend the property of the people who earned it. They recognize that need is not a moral claim on the lives and property of others—that each of us has an inalienable right to his own life and property. It's time to phase out the welfare state, and we can start with the SNAP program. It should be privatized and ended, with its operations turned over to whatever private charities wish to pick them up, based on whatever private voluntary donations they can raise. As to those posturing champions of SNAP, they are free to seek out and identify children they deem worthy, and give them their own money or food. We need the separation of charity and state, so we can remove force and return morality to the honorable practice of helping others based on what each of us as individuals judge consistent with our own values and personal circumstances.


Related Reading:

The Spiritual Parasitism of Senator Robert Menendez

Booker's "Humble" Food Stamp Campaign Highlights the Immorality of the Food Stamp Program

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