William Voegeli's Never Enough: America's Limitless Welfare State
takes a look at the welfare state that was basically created during the New Deal era. On the one hand, you have the Liberal Loons (my term, not Voegeli's) who insist that the welfare state must grow larger to help those in need. On the other hand, you have the fiscal conservatives who equally adamantly insist that the Federal government must get smaller, thus lowering taxes and enabling the private sector to expand and create more jobs.This see-saw from large to small and back is examined by Voegeli. He lays some ground work in the first half of the book, comparing the US to other countries in various ways. In the second part of the book, he takes a look at the liberal and conservative viewpoint of how things should be.
He basically comes to the conclusion that conservatives have to admit that the welfare state will never go away so it's best to deal with it and manage it as is while liberals must admit that society will never cross a certain threshold of taxation to allow a complete security blanket of government programs supported by high taxes.
The conclusion is fairly depressing for a small government advocate such as myself - of course, my mind agrees with him, but my heart fights on for a smaller Federal government. While a little dry in parts, with a sobering conclusion, I would recommend reading Never Enough: America's Limitless Welfare State
Share your thoughts below - are we doomed to supporting a massive welfare state forever? Is liberty truly lost?
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