Source: Washington Post
by George F Will
“Most Americans’ understanding of their nation’s past is notoriously sketchy. Now, at the end of an election season ostensibly about the nation’s future, most Americans surely are uncomprehending about the present. They fancy this a nation of independent, self-reliant strivers, wary of government and disdainful of Europeans contentedly dependent on governments’ providing for their well-being by redistributing wealth. … In 2022, Americans received $3.8 trillion in government transfers, 18 percent of all personal income. In 1970, not even 1 percent of counties received one-quarter or more of personal income from transfers. By 2000, 10 percent did; in 2022, it was 53 percent. This is certain to increase as the population ages.” (10/30/24)