Recomendo a leitura, na íntegra, deste breve artigo de David J. Theroux, “Help the Family: Privatize and Depoliticize”, publicado em The Independent Review.

«The welfare state rewards teenage girls with subsidies for raising children without fathers, and the breakup of family structures among the poor has been the result. The single-motherhood trend rapidly spread from the very poor into mainstream society, severing the connection between marriage and childbearing, producing fatherless homes and children prone to social pathologies like substance abuse, teenage suicide and predatory behavior. (…)

 

As the welfare state has expanded, the family has declined and serious social problems have proliferated. With the rise of the welfare state, instead of aiding those in need to become fully productive family members and citizens, dependency and idleness have resulted instead. So, what should be done now? Consider this a proposed “grown-up Christmas list” for the modern family:

 

– Privatize and depoliticize marriage and marriage law so that traditional marriage is protected through private church and other institutions that would again be free to establish standards to educate and nurture couples and their families for life.

 

– End all welfare programs that subsidize family breakups of mother, father and children. End all marriage penalties in the tax law and abolish all estate taxes. Re-establish time limits on welfare payments and private work requirements and then phase out all government welfare systems, and eliminate restrictions on the re-creation of mutual aid societies, private charities and other institutions to serve the needy. Reduce tax rates with the simultaneous elimination of the welfare state.

 

– Foster pro-marriage, pro-religion and pro-family private institutions and messaging, especially for young people. Cultivate private reconciliation programs to restore broken families and encourage the establishment of families whose formation has been inhibited by government policies as described above.»


 

Leitura complementar (e, descaradamente, menos séria): Salvem as Baleias e as Mães Solteiras.