Never Enough: William Voegeli on America's Limitless Welfare State

"The denial of the possibility that there is an endpoint [to the welfare state] is crucial to the liberal enterprise," says Dr. William Voegeli, author of the new book, Never Enough: America's Limitless Welfare State and a visiting scholar at Claremont McKenna College's Henry Salvatori Center for the Study of Individual Freedom in the Modern World.

In this Reason.tv interview, Voegeli traces recent federal government expansions to President Franklin Roosevelt's introduction of a "second Bill of Rights" that included the right to housing, education, and medical care.

Approximately 8.30.

Interview by Sam Corcos; shot by Hawk Jensen; edited by Paul Detrick.

Go to http://www.reason.tv for HD, iPod, and audio versions of this and all our videos and subscribe to Reason.tv' s YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

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[order9066]

There is no, nor were there "surpluses". Stop this lie!!!!!!!!!

[jamesuslovesu]

one problem that seems to go unaddressed is that alot of people cant afford to live off one job because of the increasing cost of living, and there arent enough jobs for everyone to have 2.when i was a kid (im 29 now)my mom had a part time job and rented a house with 2 bedrooms with a nice big yard in a good neighborhood. i had a full time job and i couldnt afford a one bedroom apartment in a crappy neighborhood.so i started thinking.

why the fuck should people work if they cant afford to live?

[felpaluche]

Nothing is ever enough for all of us

[FRSFreeStateNow]

The Welfare State or as I would prefer a Safety Net. Should be designed to help people who are down. But help them help themselves get back up. Instead of just subsidizing them forever. But put them to work. 

[AshillaBeige]

@jamesuslovesu

Read Thomas Sowell's "Economic Facts and Fallacies" where he discusses how the government has raised the cost of living with its ridiculous interference known as "urban planning."

Things like rent controls and zoning laws seriously fuck with costs. Furthermore, it's no longer cheaper to build a high rise to allow for cheaper living due to regulations. So essentially, there's excess demand for a necessary good, so the price goes up.

[sugarpuddin88]

Note the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) & IMF last week admitted that US Federal Debt is 200 Trillion

Couple that with 1.5 Quadrillion in phony counterfeit derivatives

Go back to sleep America! You have the Government you deserve!

[032125]

Ayn Rand rightly identified the phenomenon of "printing press rights" and the resulting "rights inflation" in her essay Man's Rights. It's a foundational documement for any libertarian, though Rand is as obnoxious as ever.

[captaindiesalot]

The Solutions are known: Smaller Government. A Change in the Tax Structure. An elimination of Social Welfare systems, especially Social Security and Medicare. A move towards The Constitutional Mandates. 

[PLooBzor]

I absolutely hate the background music played at the start.

[mmsayre]

@jamesuslovesu

The poor are a transitory group if you would consider the bottom quintile poor>>(treas.gov/press/release­s/hp673.htm)

The old saying that the rich get richer while the poor get poorer is not borne out in the census data.

I am in total agreement with you on your last point. I expect people to be upset about their standard of living going down. Hopefully people will not look to the govt for answers.

[Talviir]

@jamesuslovesu all the symptoms that 1) are not provable by any test and 2) are the 2 big buzzwords for medical marijuana. That with your icon tells me you want the 'american dream', but dont want to work too hard for it. A friend of mine is a quadraplegic and manages to get up and go to work each day. If the government took away your pablum, I'm quite certain you'd manage to 'fight the pain' and work. Hence why the gub'ment needs to remove the incentive to be lazy.

[jamesuslovesu]

@Gyrode

at this point i've left so many replies on this vid that i'm not even sure which reply your replying to lol

so i'll leave with my final words being

Housing Costs Too Damn Much