The Separation of Charity and State

While I am recommending reading for the day the following essay at Lindsay Mitchell's blog is fairly fascinating asking the question as to whether the dismantling of the welfare state would actually lead to the decrease in welfare received.
Very well written, although they miss the point that a lot of donating to the church is self-interested fear rather than true charity: http://lindsaymitchell.blogspot.com/2006/04/separation-of-charity-and-state.html

Tags: NZ, New Zealand, welfare, welfare state, politics