Why Those Who Receive Government Benefits Object To Government Programs

Paul Krugman points out that the poor states in the US, which are primarily "Red States" that vote for those who favor a smaller government, receive a larger share of government benefits that the Blue States. That is to be expected since the federal government redistributes income from the rich states to the poor states in many ways. He also shows that many of these voters who receive benefits from Social Security, and Medicare also believe that they are not beneficiaries of government programs. He thinks that they should be the strongest advocates for government, and he wonders why they are not. He also knows the answer to this question, but he has decided not to address it in this op-ed. They believe that tax dollars should not be wasted on people who are not deserving of government benefits. Status is important to most of us. For many Americans their status depends upon feelings of superiority over those less fortunate than themselves. The less fortunate, and the less worthy, are often members of another race or from another part of the world.