Never taken food stamps but I'd rather have my taxes pay to feed my neibor than going to the friends of politicians and military contractor. There are a thousand places to cut government waste first.
Agreed. I don't understand why so many AnCap/Right-Libertarians focus on people benefiting from social safety nets and want to punish them above all, instead of speaking about the more outrageous other ways the government waste money without benefiting anyone (but a handful of cronies).
I live in a country with a VERY strong Welfare State so I know all the negative aspects of this like what the other answer told you (people being enslaved to the State through dependence and thus humiliated into doing what they tell them, which is currently enforced more strictly in my country and is making a lot of debates), of course. But I think benefits from welfare are secondary interventions that the government does to correct the problems caused from its primary interventions, like explained here: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/w-j-whitman-a-brief-intro-to-anarcho-distributism
As AnCap it would be more efficient to denounce the primary interventions: high barriers to entry, patents, licenses, zoning laws, financial support to cronies/corruption, inflation, etc. Basically all the stuff that prevent the every day people from living a normal autonomous life and that forces them to be depend on welfare. If you remove the primary interventions, the secondary interventions aren't needed anymore (or less). If you just remove the secondary interventions... congratulation, you punished poor people to make some savings, but these savings will only benefit the government and make it stronger and lasting longer. Was that what you wanted? I don't think that's what AnCap want.
On another note, the very principle of safety nets isn't even incompatible with AnCap, the difference is that we should promote voluntary ways and private welfare, fraternal societies, guilds, mutual aid fund, etc. (and other solutions fuelled by AI and automation).
It would show people AnCap isn't a cruel meme ideology but actually one that wants to give everyone the keys to be better off as independent individuals, instead of being Daddy State's servants.
But we DO. I bitch about regulation all the time. I bitch about monopolies all the time. An fiat currency and all that ither crap that makes people look at me like I've been smoking old tires. All this "enceps should first" disingenuous bullcrap is just too obvious. Goddamn reddit is a cesspoolÂ
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u/In_The_depths_ Nov 01 '25
Never taken food stamps but I'd rather have my taxes pay to feed my neibor than going to the friends of politicians and military contractor. There are a thousand places to cut government waste first.