The General Welfare

So misunderstood, and so abused

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. - Preamble to the Constitution of the United States (emphasis in original)

The founders believed in private property ownership and personal responsibility. They did not believe in government providing for the masses because they knew government would not have, nor could it raise, the resources to do so. If they had concern that maintaining a standing army would be too much of a financial burden, how could they ever have considered welfare for the masses? They didn’t. Unfortunately, the populace has been brainwashed into believing (in my estimation) a mistaken view of the preamble to the Constitution.

There has been plenty written about the “general welfare” clause, and there are as many opinions as papers. One must take into consideration in understanding that clause what was in view and the underlying principles held by the authors. This phrase appears twice in the Constitution, and taking them in context can clarify. The first occurrence is in the preamble:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Preamble to the U.S. Constitution (emphases mine)

The preamble provides a peek into the perspective of the political pioneers who produced the Constitution. Here we read that the “people” sought to establish a “more perfect Union”, one that functioned better than the Confederation of States that came prior. The Confederation had some unforeseen pitfalls, and the federalists thought a central government based on the tenets outlined in the Constitution could prove the cure. Still, this phrase “general welfare” in the preamble is somewhat ambiguous. Consider the Constitution the Owner’s Manual for the Union. That Union is one country comprised of independent, sovereign states, all of which agreed to the terms of this legal contract. Thus, we find our first clue ensconced in this short paragraph. The Constitution is about the Union and how it should function in order to accomplish the afore stated aims. This brings more clarity to the ambiguity: the federal government is to look after the general welfare of the Union, not the individual welfare of the citizens. 

The next place the phrase is used, which is the only place it exists in the body of the Constitution, states:

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States

U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8, paragraph 1 (emphasis mine)

Here we find that Congress can raise money, via “Taxes, Duties, Imposts, and Excises” in order to fund the defense of the Union as well as provide for its welfare.  That “common defense” and “general welfare” are linked in this passage indicates general welfare can hardly refer to individuals. Frankly, I doubt that it directly refers to the people in general. It appears more to refer to the Union itself, to the country. The government is to defend the country from invasion and insurrection (Article I, Section 8, Clause 15). Local and State governments are closer to those they represent and are therefore better equipped to more specifically look after the “welfare” of their own citizens. 

The welfare of the country depends on being protected from enemies, both foreign and domestic, from trade agreements between States that may favor one over another, from unequal application of laws that are intended to protect the rights of the people (one of the primary reasons for the existence of government), and from disputes between the States. While people doing well does contribute to a healthier country overall, focus on the individual is not within the purview of the central government.

The founders would in no way have endorsed the modern welfare state. Madison himself wrote in the Federalist No. 45:

The powers delegated by the proposed constitution to the federal government, are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the state governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negociation (sic), and foreign commerce; with which last the power of taxation will for the most part be connected. The powers reserved to the several states will extend to all the objects, which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties and properties of the people; and the internal order, improvement and prosperity of the state.

Where, in there, is welfare as most understand it today? It is not, at least, not with regard to the federal government, because those who authored the Constitution did not believe the government existed to provide for those who couldn’t provide for themselves. If property was to be private, so was reliance and responsibility - it is incumbent upon individuals to care for themselves and those around them. As the country grew and aged, people’s thinking gradually began to change. Now any time something happens, people cry for the government to “do something.” This is not the American way.

The idea that the general welfare clause means government should see to individual welfare undermines the following idea in the preamble - that the Union was formed to “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” The more the government gets involved in everyday life, the less liberty citizens have; it is a zero-sum game. People need to get back to the founder’s mindset of self-reliance and caring for ones neighbors, and get out of the habit of seeking solutions to problems through government. Then, and only then, can both the general welfare of the country and the individual welfare of the citizens be properly provided.