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[–] Broc_Lia [S] ago
I don't think you're slow, it's just running counter to everything we're taught growing up. Welfare states exist because otherwise who would feed the starving, end of debate.
Now that I've seen and heard more, especially from history, I know how they're primarily a control mechanism. For someone dependent on welfare, the concept of anyone other than the most "generous" rulers getting into power is legitimately terrifying. It's an incredible incentive to create thousands of loyal supporters while painting yourself as simply being generous.
It's not even a new tactic, it's at least as old as ancient Rome. In the US it dates back to corrupt bostonian and new yorker political institutions preying on poor migrants and encouraging mass migration to grow their powerbase. In Germany Bismark deliberately grew their welfare state to create loyalty to the government and undercut the socialists. Now every country's doing it and even worse, it's too late to stop: Too many people are dependent on it to ever wind it down democratically, so the only other option is to wait for collapse.