Proof that Social Benefits Can Be Counterproductive

Publicly funded benefits such as welfare, food stamps, and other kinds of nationalized kindness are sometimes self-defeating. Would parents accept in their house and finance indefinitely the needs of an able-bodied grown person, plus his or her partner and their child, without expectation of a helping hand? Probably not. So why is it okay when society does it?

I have just received unequivocal proof that publicly funded welfare benefits destroy the incentive to work in some individuals and therefore cause an unnecessary drain on a society's collective resources.

How do I know this for a fact? I just got a letter from someone who owns a small apartment in France. She is advertising to rent it out, and this is what she writes:


"I got a call [from a prospective renter], but it doesn't sound good. She's a young girl with a child who lives about two hours from here, and who wants to move to [city] because her family is here. The problem is that she doesn't have a job, and she has a boyfriend who doesn't either, so they'd be three. The worst part is that she said, 'We don't plan on working, because with our State Family Benefits and our Minimum Reintegration Benefits, we have 1,000 euros, and we also qualify for Housing Benefits ….'" [E-mail from L.D. dated 1/3/2014]

I rest my case.

Brood Parasitism, as illustrated in Wikipedia.