American author responsible for several books, most of which are primarily concerned with the failure of the welfare state as we know it today. His most famous work is "The Tragedy of American Compassion." In this book, he lays out a very good argument that we were doing a much better job of dealing with the homeless and the poor a hundred years ago. At that time, the churches and the local charities had direct contact with these unfortunates, and charity came with a price. To be fed, you had to do something productive. To be housed, you had to work.
You can read it for yourself and see what you think, but it makes quite a bit of sense to me. When you centralize charity in some monolithic place, you take away the element that makes the recipient feel any sense of responsibility. All these years, a Medicare deduction has been coming out of my paycheck. I've yet to have one senior citizen say, "Thank you."