[W]e could alternatively think of society of a welfare state as consisting of four concentric circles. The innermost circle consists of various welfare recipients, and the next circle around it consists of social workers in many guises whose livelihood depends on the existence of this welfare and its recipients. The next large circle are the taxpayers who pay for all this, providing welfare for the welfare state bureaucrats. The outermost, sparse circle consists of the rulers and guardians who maintain this system and ensure that it will never change. We could ask what future there can be for a society in which all serious and important discussions ultimately boil down to pointing out how some people are unable to manage even the most basic aspects of their lives, so they just always break stuff and are a constant drag on others. This arrangement sustains itself because it appeals to the maternal instincts of people and their need to feel superior to others, plus the fact that it is easy to understand people who are simpler than you.