Summary – Can a libertarian accept government benefits?
In this episode of the Faith Seeking Freedom Podcast, host Cody Cook addresses whether libertarians can accept government benefits. He discusses the libertarian stance against taxation and redistribution while acknowledging the complexities of living in a state-influenced society. Cody explores the moral implications, citing examples like public roads and medical dependencies created by government interference. He emphasizes the importance of navigating the world as it is, without harsh judgment towards those reliant on government aid. Ultimately, Cody concludes that accepting benefits is a matter of personal conscience while advocating for a free society.
Episode Transcript
Greetings and welcome to the Faith Seeking Freedom Podcast. My name is Cody Cook, and our question for this episode is this:
Can a libertarian accept government benefits?
Libertarians reject the idea that it’s good to steal from one person to give to another, so we also reject taxation and redistribution as moral practices. Since this is so, shouldn’t we try to live our lives apart from any kind of government benefit?
There are different ways that one could answer this question.
You could say that consistency demands that we reject stolen funds. And this would be a perfectly good and upright way to live.
However, this approach isn’t without its complications. We live in the world as it is, not as we would like it to be. Getting away from the state completely is no easy task. So, for example, maybe you think that all roads should be privatized, but for now the main roads are public–are you going to stop using them? Perhaps you’re well off enough to not require some kind of financial support from others, but unless you’re in a position to go full anarchoprimitivist, there’s a good chance you won’t be able to avoid public roads. For now at least, the state is entangled in everyday life.
State involvement in every aspect of our lives also sometimes means that they create dependencies through their interference. For example, someone very close to me is a type 1 diabetic. Due to patents the government enforces, the medical technology that she relies on to survive can only be produced by a few large companies–this lack of competition drives prices up. If the state had no involvement in patents, she could probably afford this lifesaving technology without any government assistance. But in the world that state interference has created, she needs help–and that looks like Medicaid. She would rather not be on government benefits, but the state has left her with little choice.
It’s hard to moralize against people in situations like this, which suggests to me that if I were in that situation I shouldn’t feel overly guilty about it either. While I would prefer and advocate for no state welfare, I’m forced to navigate the world as it is. While fighting for a free society, I find that I have unfortunately been forced by the state into some kind of dependency upon it–for now, at least.
If that argument doesn’t persuade you, perhaps this one will: you’re forced to pay the state against your will, so you might as well get what you can back. No one is going to give you any awards for moral uprightness if you’re willing to get robbed but not willing to take anything back from your robbers when they offer it. As libertarian theorist Walter Block has written, “Since we
are all victims and beneficiaries of this game, the whole process of forcing the entire society to pay for things its members are unwilling to finance themselves is morally objectionable. In isolation, then, it is not improper for people to seek to recover the taxes that have been levied against them.” However, while it would legitimate for those who are coerced to pay taxes against their will to petition for some of it back, Block clarifies that it would be improper for members of the ruling class–those who have created, supported, and lobbied for the system we have today–to benefit from the welfare state.
So what’s the point?
Libertarians think it’s wrong for the state to steal from some and redistribute to others. However, government has created a society of dependency by interfering with the free market. This means that some have few options if they don’t receive government benefits; if we expand benefits to things like public roads, almost all of us are recipients of redistribution and dependent upon it.
While working to create a free society without forced redistribution, we should try to avoid being judgmental toward those who have to survive in an unfree society–even if it’s us.
But at the end of the day, whether you receive government benefits as a libertarian is a matter of conscience. If it can be avoided, that would be preferable and a better witness to your values; but whether you accept them or don’t, the state is still going to keep stealing from you every April. That you can count on.
Thanks for listening. I’m Cody Cook and this has been Faith Seeking Freedom.