Giving Compass' Take:

• Richard M. Ebeling argues that paternalistic policies of the 60's were inherently flawed and failed to produce the desired results. 

• Do you agree with his assessment? How can policies be improved to avoid the inadequacies of these policies? 

• Learn why it is important for young people to be involved in policy decisions. 

Fifty years separate us today from 1968 and the two momentous legacies of the then failed presidency of Lyndon Johnson: The declaring of war on America's supposed domestic ills in the form of the "Great Society" programs, and the aggressive military intervention in a real war in Vietnam. Both of these "wars" reflected the arrogance and hubris of the social engineer who believes that he has the power and ability to remake and direct society in his own preferred image.

What guided the Great Society agenda was an arrogant pretense of knowledge. There was a general attitude among many economists and a large number of self-proclaimed social critics that most of the "evils" of the world—poverty, illiteracy, lack of decent housing or medical care, and environmental degradation—were all due to a lack of willpower and well-intentioned and implemented policy. The guiding premise was that the private sector had failed in meeting these problems and, indeed, may have contributed to them due to a disregard for "national needs," while pursuing private purposes.

Once such individuals and groups were completely or heavily dependent upon these government programs, escape from them was difficult due to the significant loss of benefits if such a recipient wished to find private-sector employment at a wage that would greatly reduce or terminate their eligibility. Thus, an underclass of more or less permanent wards of the state was created with intergenerational dependency on government transfers growing in frequency.

Read the full article about a "Great Society" by Richard M. Ebeling at FEE.