How the Welfare State Corrupts Self-Government

James Otteson explains how the welfare state undermines self-government:

Without a shared default understanding that people may not be compelled to work for or otherwise support anyone else against their wishes, we no longer have a society of free and responsible individuals. We may be wealthy, but we do not respect the inherent dignity of each individual. That is a recipe for moral barbarism.

This is self-government as the Founders understood it: each of us has an obligation to govern our own self first and foremost.