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Mr. warren writes: We have forgotten today the arguments made against the spread of “welfare” in earlier decades, when just this result was foreseen. The argument from moral jeopardy was prominent – that even modest old-age pensions would (modestly) discourage people from showing foresight and making provisions; that any kind of public “insurance” must necessarily promote the kind of behavior beneath which it extends the “social safety net.” No, Mr. warren we have not forgotten those arguments. Tune into Fox News and talk radio and one hears them morning noon and night. Your argument is losing because it is not convincing. Let's stipulate that your argument is right in what it presumes...that when "the state" does more people do less. But the converse does not follow. If the state does less, then not everyone--either through the vicissitudes of life, always putting off to tomorrow, or just plain short sightedness--will in fact do more. Some people are lazy and stupid, others try and fail, while only some succeed. But what do we do for the ones who don't save enough? Some senior citizens would just have to go without. And what does Catholic social doctrine say we should do in such cases? Here's the remedy. We are realistic enough to know that very few newly minted BA's right out of college think about how they are going to pay for hip replacements and heart valves in 60 years? So what the government does is compel them to pay 2.9% of their earnings into a Medicare tax pool with the promise that their health care needs will be provided for when the time comes. On top of this there is another 13% that they pay as an insurance against old age poverty. ((We need of course to ensure that the program does not become too generous in the sense that it transfers too much from young to old but that is a secondary concern.)) Assuming the programs are well run, it is not really the state doing more. It is more the case of the state compelling citizens to do for themselves--which in some cases they would not be able to do. Yes, there is a moral hazard problem but there is also the problem of not having enough to sustain you in old age (and not being able to work to rectify things) These programs are not free. You get because you pay. What's the problem with that? The problem you obsess about is far less serious than the loss of the benefits of these programs. - John 23