SNAP corrodes self-reliance, burdens taxpayers, and erodes civic character—Congress should use the shutdown to end the program and restore voluntary charity and consent of the governed.
The new/young/dissident right, whatever you want to call them, no longer even pretends to want to undo the state. To the contrary, they love its power, wealth, and honor. They want a share of the $10.5 trillion it collects in taxes every year. And why shouldn’t they? Their fathers have explained that the state is immortal and unbeatable. It can print, borrow, and tax money forever. The planners that guide our economy are invincible. The mechanism will never stop working.
The young have taken the faith of their fathers to heart.
They see clearly that the guiding mythologies of our regime are fake. Everything is inverted: our “laws” are really commands, our “freedom” is slavery, and our “justice” is injustice. “Principles” are just a magic spell you utter to get your opponents to do what you want.
The welfare, warfare, and surveillance state go together. Its supporters are all hypocrites. The architects of the Iraq War denounce Russia for aggression. The defenders of vaccine mandates insist on “bodily autonomy” for abortions. Supporters of the “rule of law” praise lockdowns.
The rank lying that characterizes the liberal world order will lead to its downfall. Down our present path lies political violence and terror as new factions awaken to the possibility of seizing the power of the state for themselves. The only way out is to raze the welfare-warfare state to the ground. We—a real We—must all choose peace. We must all lay down our arms; we must all renounce our claims to the property and liberty of others.
We must abolish the welfare-warfare state. We must reject its view of justice. We must start over. Eliminating SNAP is a good place to start. In the end, however, we must eliminate it all. We must refound our regime on the actual, literal consent of the governed.
We must rediscover what it means to be a citizen. We must stop lying.
There is no doubt that such a task will be difficult. But to give in to despair and resignation means paving the road to civil war. It means knowingly chartering our course into the abyss.
This is not the only option. We can, and should, choose otherwise.
the average female SNAP recipient weighs over 200 pounds. The average woman not on SNAP, 145. Oh SNAP!
Delusions of Adequacy 