Addition by Deduction

This is my latest at The Partial Observer. Excerpt:

The more more people save for their own retirement, the less Social Security will be needed. Likewise, the more people provide for their own - and each other's - medical care and education, the less government support will be needed. And the more people are encouraged to give - to anti-poverty programs, substance-abuse centers, medical research, etc. - the more social progress will be made without government interference or Big Government spending.

The more civil society takes care of itself, the less government we would need. Ideally, we wouldn't need a transition from government programs to "government-approved" private institutions, but in this plan private institutions wouldn't be directly subsidized by the government, and individual choice, not bureaucrats, will decide where one's retirement, medical, educational, and charitable spending will go. Even if they are registered and regulated, private entities will still have greater incentive to be efficient and customer-friendly than the government does.