The Daily Oklahoman
Letter to the Editor
April 27th, 2006


Drilling deeper

I applaud Mary Rumph (Your Views, April 21) for her attempt at root cause
analysis. She found the results of broken marriage, single moms and welfare
dependence to be troubled youths costing the taxpayers by creating the
need for jails, detention facilities, etc. Rumph did not drill down to the
real cause of the irresponsible behaviors that create these problems. The
welfare state itself creates the dependence and facilitates irresponsibility
by giving a safety net for such behavior. More people will
attempt to walk the high-wire with a net under them than without.
When the state confiscates wealth to create the net there should be no
surprise that an ever increasing number of social acrobats will be falling
into it.

To get people to be responsible, we must remove the net and make them
accountable. No amount of legislation trying to define moral behavior will
create responsible behavior. When the state provides charity it becomes an
entitlement and allows irresponsible behavior to flourish and even become
the norm. An end to the welfare state would soon be followed by more
stable families and fewer troubled youth simply because people won't
venture out on the high-wire once the net is removed.

Larry Brittain
Guthrie

Brittain is treasurer of the Oklahoma Libertarian Party and Chairman of the Central Oklahoma Libertarian Party

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