I didn't have much growing up. Our family immigrated to this country when I was five, and four years later my dad died. Considering mom had never held a job, and couldn't speak a lick of English, it amazes me that she was able to raise me and my little brother on her own the way she did.
I remember every so often we would visit with a social worker to prove our existence and qualify us for welfare. Those were rough times, but we got through it. Years later, mom got her US citizenship and she was so proud to be an American. She always talked about how thankful she was to this country because in her mind, there was no way we could have survived anywhere else.
Having gotten into Bitcoin I admit a lot of my thinking has changed. One of them being whether or not we need a government at all. But it's hard not to look back to those days and wonder what would have happened if not for all the government assistance we received. We didn't have family here, and it would take some time before my mom found a suitable job. I get what libertarians and anarchocapitalists are about. I've read Ayn Rand and I can get behind her philosophy, but it's hard not to think back to those days when we were really struggling and wonder what would have become of us if not for the social programs that were in place.
