Results. They're all that matter. Hurting someone with good intentions is still hurting someone. Their suffering is not lessened because you didn't mean it.
It is also important to look at not only the intended recipient of your good will, but to make sure there is no collateral damage as well. Not only are results all that matter, all results matter.
Today, we have collateral damage galore.
Let's imagine a community where a small number of people are poor, probably lacking the basic skills needed to get their lives together. They live in obvious discomfort and perhaps can't even imagine a better life. And sadly, their children, through no fault of their own, are growing up in this environment.
But for the most part the community, while not wealthy, is healthy and productive and on a decent path. The very poor represent only a tiny minority.
Now, let's throw in a liberal from a faraway place, one running for public office. This liberal politician and all of the earnest, enthusiastic liberal voters learn of these poor people and decide that since they are so well off, perhaps even wealthy, they should do something to help. And, of course, instead of setting up some sort of private voluntary charity to help, they opt for the more expedient federally funded program, forcing not only the well-intentioned liberals to contribute but also the horrible conservatives who think this whole thing is generally a bad idea.
So politicians are elected, laws are passed, funds allocated, offices established, bureaucrats hired and forms printed. Next thing we know the handful of very poor people in our village are receiving a check (or food stamps or health insurance or housing subsidies or child care credits etc.) every month. They can now put food on the table, get medicines they need. Maybe start putting resources into building a better life.
Some poor people have been helped, some liberals feel good and no one pays much attention to this little town for a while ...
But while the liberals were patting themselves on the back, perhaps with a glass of organic chardonnay in the other hand, some disturbing things started to happen in our little town. One could say a corruption of sorts started to take root ...
The first warning sign was that the number of applicants for the federal program began to grow beyond initial expectations. Not a staggering number at the beginning, but over time a steady increase. Instead of 3% of the community receiving aid, it grew to 4% then 5% then 8% then 11%. Then 20%. Additional funds had to be allocated. The local federal office was to be expanded.
What was happening? Ask the liberals and they'll tell you that life is getting harder, there's less opportunity, we haven't invested enough in education and health care ... so of course the numbers of dependents are growing. This is what happens when we elect conservatives into office.
But this is just too simple and self-serving of an explanation. What is really happening? Are we helping those less fortunate? Or are we manufacturing them?
Charity is a dangerous thing. It brings enormous temptation to those just barely not eligible. Seeing your neighbor receiving unearned benefits makes you think. Makes you ask questions. Makes you fill out forms ... maybe even with a couple white lies sprinkled in.
What happens when this plays out over time? Even over generations? What happens when a critical mass of a community receives more government benefits than they earn at a job? Do people start to change their attitudes toward self-reliance and hard work? Does drug use spread like a cancer? Do families no longer need to stay together to make it in this hard world? Actually, is it even more lucrative not to be married?
But actually, the more pertinent question to ask today: Where is the tripping point when the original culture of the community is irretrievably lost?
Take a look at a poor, inner city black neighborhood or a poor, rural Appalachian white town and try to explain what has happened there in any other terms. Over the years, these have been the two primary targets of liberal "help". Go back 50 years and these places were poor, but their culture was intact. Families were together. The impact of drugs was minimal. There was hope. Today, it's hard to find reason for any.
Conservatives are not motivated to keep our big pile of money away from the undeserving. We're not motivated by our enjoyment of people suffering. We're not greedy. We're not heartless. But we're also not brainless. The war on poverty started in the 1960s. How's it looking?
It's time to abandon the argument that people need help and something needs to be done, therefore anything we do is good. And anyone who opposes anything is a bad person.
Yes, something needs to be done. But first, we need to stop doing such catastrophic harm.
