Social Justice and the Family

This writer sounds positively Chestertonian:

The bottom line is that big government solutions have failed those they purport to help. "What has happened over the years, I think, is the failure of successive governments to recognize that poverty isn’t just the absence of money," says Mr. Duncan Smith. "You need to look at what causes people to fall into poverty."

As a bonus, measures like the ones implemented in the UK also make sense financially. One recent UK study estimates the financial cost of family breakdown there is about 66 billion dollars annually. Helping the poor and less privileged while saving precious public dollars ought to appeal to most Canadians.

The vision presented by Mr. Duncan Smith and his fellow UK Conservatives is one for a better community. There’s an opportunity here for North America’s conservatives—understanding that strong families are the way toward a smaller government—and greater freedom. Who knew social issues (properly understood) were the way toward fiscal responsibility?