Another gem from Kevin Williamson at National Review, The American Middle Class as Victim:

excerpt:

The problem for Warren (who should know better) and others like her (who often don’t) is that there is a lot more juice in the moralistic account of economic problems than in the economic account of economic problems. To make things worse, the moralistic account offered by Senator Warren is untrue. Americans are not incapable of being anything other than passive victims of forces beyond their control. They have moral agency, and they make choices — sometimes, they make bad choices for bad reasons. If we are to have beneficial and effective policies — “providing for those common hazards of life against which few can make adequate provision,” as F. A. Hayek put it — then we have to begin with accurate and intelligent premises, not moralistic fairytales and just-so stories and politically expedient flattery.

HKO

I am tempted to excerpt every paragraph; do read the whole thing.

It is a difficult conversation that seems heartless to many; but policy should not be determined by emotional anecdotes.  Private charities have less moral hazard in their work than government agencies where policy is far more removed from judgment.

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