Accepting Welfare While Voting Against It

Now that we have a baby, we qualify for WIC (Women, Infants, and Children), a nutritional assistance program. As a Republican/Libertarian, I think there should be less, if any, government welfare. However, we are taking it, and I don’t feel bad about it!! ; ) But really, I’m not writing this defensively, though I am very defensive sometimes. Rather, I’m writing it because I think it’s an economically and politically fascinating predicament that I think you’ll enjoy analyzing.

For my purposes, you can think of government as a club that we have formed. We vote on certain club rules. Some rules I like more than others, but even if I don’t like a rule that a majority of the group votes for, I’ll accept it because I still like the club and want to go along with what the group wants. I may even think that sometimes the group knows better than I do on some topics.

One rule might be that we will all contribute money through various means, and then the poorest get some of that money to buy food through government programs like WIC. I would prefer that we don’t have that program, but since it’s in place I accept the benefits  that are part of the program and club experience.

Of course, I don’t think there is anything wrong with not accepting government benefits. But I think it’s appropriate to politically promote the best government policies, while participating in any government programs that we think are helpful to our families.

A related (but more radical) view that I have is that public schools should be sold to private companies. (I guess; I’m still working through these things). But I’m not about to try to make a middle class income stretch to put my kids into private school, though a lower taxed and more privatized school seems nice in some ways.

Whatever means we come upon, whether from the government, inheritance or hard work, using them honestly and with an attitude of helping and not wasting will bring ourselves and those around us fulfillment and happiness.

I suppose a simple principle that I could be getting at is that it makes sense to do one’s civic duty and politically promote the best system possible, and then take the system that society provides to best pursue important family goals.

What is a government policy that you disagree with, and how do you think you might balance being a part of the society we are in while holding to your core values?