I was stunned when I read Katy Rowe’s editorial, “The Welfare State,” on Thursday.à She was absolutely right when she said that the government’s job is “to protect its citizens.”à

That has become an increasingly daunting task since our country was founded, but I think the government is doing a pretty good job.àI thought Rowe was going to be on the right track, and I settled down to read a pleasant article against welfare.

But, then I read these shocking words: “the government has the responsibility to provide its citizens with good quality of life.”àNow, come on – that is absolutely absurd.à The only thing the government has the responsibility to provide us is the right to earn and define our own qualities of life.à

àI am not even going to address her ridiculous arguments that we adopt a system similar to France’s socialist one. If she or anyone else wants to do 10 minutes of research on the issue, they’ll realize that France’s government is facing an absolute meltdown because of their “generous” policies.à

You think we have a social security crisis? Try having to tell all youràFrench citizens (and their colonies) that you can no longer afford to give them the free food, money and healthcare to which they’ve become accustomed.à

àNow, I’m going to focus on one small but important error in Ms. Rowe’s wildly flawed article. It is NOT the government’s responsibility to pay for your medicine or to give you extra cash because you have aàdisability or because you’re poor and refused to take advantage of the free education that was offered to you.àWe have a wonderful government that has legislatedàto us the PRIVILEGE of tax breaks to help with those and many other difficult circumstances.

It even doles out checks to some of us who face disabilities, who can’t afford college, who failed to plan ahead adequately and who are flat-out broke.àThis is not its responsibility – it is our privilege, and much of it can (and should) be taken away.àà

àOur government does way too much for us. We are the wealthiest country in the world, and our citizens – even the poorest ones – are far better off than members of most other countries.

Our federal government sponsors a sickening myriad of social programs, shelling out our hard earned tax dollars to fund any and everything, including things you might not agree with – like paying billions of dollars for people’s unnecessary “lifestyle” prescription drugs.

So, part of my earnings get to be spent to pay for Suzy’s allergy medicine that she simply must take because she doesn’t want to have to get rid of her 12 cats.

I live with these social responsibilities that the government has decided to take on, and I vote against them when the opportunity arises.

I would never dream of asking the government to legislate more of them. Once you give the government the responsibility to support its citizensà(i.e., pay for everything), you give them the right to make any other decisions for you – like where you can live, go to school, go get medical care, what salary you can earn – the possibilities are endless.à

Socialism is a two-way street.àYou give up your liberties when you live off the government.à I, for one, don’t want to live in that kind of country.à I suggest that Katy Rowe move to France if she does.

Elizabeth George is a senior finance major. She may be contacted at [email protected].