A Life of One's Own: Individual Rights and the Welfare State

by David Kelley

The welfare state rests on the assumption that people have rights to food, shelter, health care, retirement income, and other goods provided by the government. David Kelley examines the historical origins of that assumption, and the rationale used to support it today.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics, Economics

165 pages, Paperback

First published September 18, 1998

About the author

David Kelley, Ph.D., is the founder of The Atlas Society in Washington, DC, which promotes open Objectivism, the philosophy originated by novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand.

He is an internationally-known expert in Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. A former college professor of philosophy, he has written and lectured extensively on issues in epistemology, ethics, politics, social issues, and public policy. He has also been a consultant to the film adaptation of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.

Reviews

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

If one fine day someone comes to me asking: Why do you oppose the welfare state? I would ask them: Do you really want to know? and then point him to this book. The probability is high that he is never going to read it, but the book itself is worth reading for the sake of presenting the argument against a welfare state in a clear manner and with a philosophical foundation. It is one of those go to books on a topic, and I love to have books like that. Yes, the book is one that may one day go slightly out of date because of its "current" examples now 20 years ago, but it is still of value - even for me and the situation with the welfare state in Norway(the book focuses of course more at the US.) This is because David Kelley focuses more on the foundations, the ideas, the prerequisite philosophies behind the idea of a welfare state, and if those are shown to be invalid then the welfare state is so too. It does not only go into philosophy, there are many examples of how things are gone bad, but it is so much more important to know why rather than just try to explain it away with bad implementation or policies. This book manages to do that.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this many years ago and just remembered to add it. An excellent book on the libertarian argument against the welfare state, focusing on the moral perspective, with attention to realistic private alternatives and the history thereof.