Welfare benefits once granted to masses become politically irreversible

Evidence

It remains, to this day, politically untouchable. American history is full of rhetoric about individualism (not all of it bogus), and antigovernment sentiment. The United States has shown more resistance to a full welfare state than other rich, developed countries. But the welfare state has crept in nevertheless, and once a benefit is extended to masses of people, it is almost impossible to claw it back. Social Security never died. It got stronger with the years, though perhaps more bureaucratic, more entangled in red tape, and (at times) more irrational. But its place in society seems unassailable. — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 3826

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Welfare delivered as revocable charity rather than right subjects recipients to domination — Philip Pettit, Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and…, 736; Neoliberalism funds repressive state functions at welfare’s expense; Welfare maximization self-undermines by denying the collective community’s existence and judgment it depends on — Douglas A. Kysar, Regulating from Nowhere: Environmental…, 59 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Welfare delivered as revocable charity rather than right subjects recipients to domination #complicates (0.75) — Philip Pettit, Republicanism, 736
• The welfare state’s success provoked conservative opposition to reverse it #complicates (0.75)
• Neoliberalism funds repressive state functions at welfare’s expense #qualifies (0.72)
• Welfare maximization self-undermines by denying the collective community’s existence and judgment it depends on #complicates (0.72) — Douglas A. Kysar, Regulating from Nowhere, 59