When we sever effort from reward, we dim human motivation. If working, saving, and innovating don’t change your lot, why strive? Output falls, shortages spread, and the state reaches for heavier hands—rules, rations, and surveillance—to force results that voluntary cooperation can no longer deliver. The more it compels, the more power concentrates; liberty withers.

Compassion must be wise. Lift people from poverty by safeguarding opportunity—stable rules, secure property, room to start and keep what you build—and by offering help that restores self-reliance rather than trapping people in dependence. Honor the link between choices and outcomes, and you’ll get the progress that funds generosity and preserves dignity. Break it, and you trade hope for control—and pay for it with prosperity and freedom.