On Welfare

Disclaimer: In the past few months, I have read three novels and several essays penned by Ayn Rand.  Her ideas of objectivism and the individualism that it results in have reignited in me a passion 

"An honest man is one who knows that he can't consume more than he has produced." - Fransisco D'Anconia, Atlas Shrugged, Part II Chapter II.

What is the worth of the welfare check In terms of benefit, it provides him with a level of income and protection against the consequences of personal financial failure.  However, it has robbed him of two things of immensely greater value: his self-worth and his motivation to create.

What kind of man does it take to say "No." to a government-'redistributed' payment? The answer is simple. It is the honest man, the capable man, and the man who knows the value of his own creative capacity.  He understands the source of that money and rejects its principle outright.
Thus, the welfare system consists of the opposite sort of man: the lying man, the incompetent man, the sort of man who has no conception of his creative capacity (or no desire to use it).

Welfare-statism is the hijacking of government by the leech and the looter.  This system views the wealth created by creative and productive men as a sort of 'natural resource' to be managed and redistributed.  The creator of this wealth has increasingly little say in the matter as the notion of public ownership of wealth becomes more and more prevalent.

Welfare money is, in essence, dirty money.  It is blood money stolen at the point of a legal gun by the 'government of the people'.

This post was intended to be longer and more comprehensive, but I seem to have run out of steam. I'll probably come back to it at some point. 

References (all by Ayn Rand):
Atlas Shrugged
The Fountainhead
Anthem
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal


Edit: I will DEFINITELY have to come back to this very soon. It needs a lot more explanation and depth before it actually represents my thoughts. Thanks to those who've pointed this out.