“How tethered are you?” That’s what Sheldon Richman
starts out asking in this indispensable book laying bare “the theory and practice of the welfare
state.”
Chances are Richman’s answer will widen the eyes even
of those who think they’re familiar with the welfare state’s milestones, such as the New Deal. The
author digs deeper, unearthing not just milestones but also the very foundation stones of the
welfare state. And he shows how deeply welfare-state thinking has penetrated American society.
Richman unmasks the conceptual trickery inherent in the
term “welfare,” explains who benefits and who loses from it, and — exploring
democracy’s dark side — reveals how wrong it is to claim that the electorate has
deliberately voted the welfare state into place. Moreover, he exposes the fraud of recent
welfare “reform.”
As the author demonstrates, “welfare” isn't just
for the poor. It never has been. Two of the foundation stones Richman examines are Bismarckian
Germany’s “social insurance,” which went hand in hand with protection for industry,
and post–Civil War America's vast system of veterans pensions, which came in handy for
buying votes. And as for the “poor” themselves, readers will discover how hard it
is to say, objectively, just who they are.
What distinguishes Richman’s account of the welfare state
is his own consistent adherence to a philosophy of reason and individual rights. He doesn’t
compromise — and he sees clearly how others who would defend freedom have compromised, and
fatally. The author doesn’t confine himself to attacking welfarism; he also demonstrates the
virtue and power of individualism, property, and competition. Richman shows that economic competition
is nothing more or less than peaceful cooperation in a climate of freedom.
Thanks to Sheldon Richman, collectivists are going to sound like
Flat Earthers the next time they talk about “atomistic individualism.” Richman’s ingenious
and unforgettable riposte — “molecular individualism” — is only one example of how this exciting book untethers the mind.
Reviews
Congressman Ron Paul
“By tracing the history of the welfare state and detailing how
redistributionism damages both the taxpayer and the recipient of government ‘aid,’Sheldon
Richman has produced a book that is essential reading for any American wishing to understand how the
welfare state is incompatible with constitutional government and a free society. Such understanding is
the first step toward reclaiming liberty. For only when the American people fully understand how damaging
the welfare state is to both the nation’s economy and its moral character will the welfare state
join other forms of statism on the ash heap of history.”
James Bovard, author, Feeling Your Pain: The Explosion and Abuse of Power in the Clinton-Gore Years
“Tethered Citizens is an eloquent debunking of the
welfare state, from its Prussian origins to its Iron Fist contemporary reality. This book should wake up
more Americans to the fraudulent benevolence of our political ruling class.”
Doug Bandow, senior fellow, Cato Institute
“In Tethered Citizens, Sheldon Richman launches a brilliant
broadside against the entire welfare state. He demonstrates that the greatest cost is not financial,
but Americans’ loss of liberty. Washington’s much-vaunted Republican Revolution has left
the welfare state unscathed. Not Sheldon Richman, who demonstrates that today’s expansive
social-assistance programs are immoral as well as wasteful. Seldom has the case for freedom been
made more persuasively. Politicians constantly talk of compassion. But in Tethered
Citizens Sheldon Richman demonstrates that their programs are anything but compassionate.
Only by eliminating the welfare state can we secure our freedom and prosperity.”
Lowell Ponte, national radio talk-show host
“Richman brilliantly explains how the government breaks its citizens’
legs and then hands them crutches. This is a fine book.”
Laissez Faire Books, reviewed by Jim Powell
Why did Americans abandon libertarian principles which had brought
so much peace and prosperity? How could people long accustomed to a reasonably free life accept the
pervasive taxes and restrictions of the welfare state? What lessons must be learned for us to turn
the tide? Richman answers these and many more crucial questions in this fine book. He tells a
fascinating story of how the drumbeat of “progressive” intellectuals and involvement
in several wars convinced Americans that government control of our lives would make everything better.
He traces Social Security, supposedly a bulwark of our democracy,
to the late 19th-century Prussian official Josef Maria von Radowitz who advocated a “social
kingdom,” and to the authoritarian German chancellor Otto von Bismarck who carried it out
with “blood and iron.”
Richman talks about Herbert Croly who, though little-read today,
influenced Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt and many others with his denunciations of the
Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, individualism, free enterprise and just about
everything else we cherish.
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