It’s this inability to submit that makes up a large part of why I lean libertarian. I don’t like the idea of someone being able to tell me what I can and can’t do with my personal life. I can hardly stand watching it happen to others because if it can happen to them it can definitely happen to me.

When I explain this to people it will sometimes go a little further. Usually, I get vehement agreement and the conversation stops there, but sometimes people begin asking me questions, and they find out my libertarian-conservative leanings come with what some consider cold.

My fiscal conservationism comes with the desire for much lower taxes giving the government much less to work with. This inevitably leads to a person asking where we would get the money to pay for certain things, like food stamps and welfare.

“It wouldn’t. We’d have to cut it,” I respond.

And there they find the divide between us. People are usually with libertarians up to the point where “the needy” are, what they believe, are “sacrificed.” They screw up their faces as if they smelled something foul and have a range of emotions from calm debate to outraged jabbering. No matter what, however, the overall theme of their talk is usually the same; heartlessness.

It’s fun to watch their faces when I tell them that I likely care more about these people they’re wanting to give money to more than they do.

I’ll give you a perfect example of how much more I care about those in need than any bleeding heart by pointing to 2020 Democratic candidate Joe Biden, who just signaled a good deal of virtue in order to trigger those hearts on Thursday.

“Donald Trump is cutting food assistance for 700,000 people, but somehow found $1.4 billion for his sham of a border wall. This administration is morally bankrupt,” Biden tweeted.

Donald Trump is cutting food assistance for 700,000 people, but somehow found $1.4 billion for his sham of a border wall. This administration is morally bankrupt. https://t.co/1CPQhgNUdx

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) December 26, 2019

The tweet was in response to Trump taking to Twitter to talk about his new defense bill which included funding for the wall.

Biden was pretty sure that this would make Trump seem uncaring, cold, and most importantly, unelectable as a leader of the United States of America, but I’m not exactly sure that he got the intended result judging by many of the responses.

What Biden didn’t tell you is that many of these people taken off food stamps were healthy citizens fully capable of working and just choosing not to. They were essentially robbing a system meant to help those who couldn’t work and paid for by the people who do work. Those people will now have to get their meals by working for them, which is exactly what they should have been doing in the first place.

I dare say that if we investigated much deeper into the welfare system, we’d find billions of dollars we could cut out of errors, fraud, and more.

All that is well and good, but there’s so much more to cutting costs and budgeting correctly that makes demolishing welfare and entitlements such a societal good.

Welfare, food stamps, and various entitlements tend to become a lifestyle. Your entire plan for life revolves around getting X amount of dollars every month from the government, making sure that you never grow bigger as an individual in terms of success so that you can continue to qualify for that amount.

You are effectively stuck where you are and the only way to grow is to qualify for more entitlements. This doesn’t just put more burden on the working taxpayer, it also means that you must do various things that put others into a position where they must rely on the government. For instance, single mothers can have more children in order to qualify for more money, but they must stay single. This means a fatherless home, and this has lead to a multitude of problems.

They become more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, live in poverty, and suffer both physical and emotional complications according to information gathered by fathers.com.

But most of all it makes you dependent on someone else for your state of being. Your individualism is stunted and you become something like a slave to the system. Your entire being belongs to people you’ve never met.

Explaining this concept to people, if they let me get that far, doesn’t often take immediately. In fact, I’ve probably gotten complete resistance to this idea more often than not. I’ve been called racist for saying that this is a problem that plagues black communities, and a horrible person for trying to diminish the opportunities of single mothers.

The truth is, I care about a person’s dignity and ability to stand up by themselves. At this time we currently have a system that promotes the idea of relying on the government from cradle to grave instead of just needing assistance for a short time.

The government would have you in a wheelchair forever. You’re far more likely to vote to empower it further if it’s the one carting you around while you don’t have to do anything. However, libertarians and conservatives would rather you stand and walk on your two feet and, if you have it in you, run toward something greater than section 8 housing and life of zero accomplishments and petty goals.

This is why Biden’s virtue signal seems more cruel and manipulative than caring. It’s why people are calling him out as a man who would rather keep people down than elevate them to new heights.

And they’re right to. Biden would rather keep people chained to the government, but I’d rather set them free.