Part of the mythology of the United States is of the “self-made man” (and it is a man in the myth.) Each person should take care of himself and the government should not interfere with him. In certain quarters this philosophy is justified by Biblical passages such as this from St. Paul: if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat. See, some would say, welfare is evil. The reality of life, particularly in modern times, is that no one is self-made. We are all dependent on each other. Education, health, transportation, food, sanitation, safety, etc. are all communal enterprises. Notice that the key word in the Pauline admonition is “unwilling,” not unable. One of the glories of American society is that we have built a safety net to support those unable to work because of age, health or circumstance. This is straight from the Bible: ‘Whatsoever you do to the least, you do unto me.”
