Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

Even though half the U.S. population depends on some form of government assistance, we are not yet considered a Welfare society because the Top Quarter of our population are relatively free to pursue their own goals, make their own decisions, and reap the rewards of their actions. But how much of a burden can the High Achievers bear before the incentives are no longer worth the effort? We have historical examples of Communist regimes that seem to indicate it takes about three generations before cracks start to show. By the time the grandkids come along with no expectation of achievement or even self-motivation, what was once considered a sign of society's transcendence, its guarantee of social welfare, becomes its downfall.

The countries of Western Europe have been dealing with mass welfare for decades, since right after WWII, for obvious reasons, but the consequences even now are not so glaringly apparent that the majority of their populations would revert back to American levels of insecurity, even though there are occasional attempts to reign in the excesses. Especially now, with the mass influx of immigrants from other nations, primarily Muslims, the stress on Western European welfare systems is tremendous. Germany was able to integrate East Germany, so they have confidence they can do so repeatedly. France, Greece, Great Britain & Italy, have all grappled with this problem; their failures should be warnings to us, and their successes should be examples. What must be kept in mind is that welfare should not be so attractive that joining in becomes the actual goal.