In response to:
If one child is helped, that makes it worthwhile.
What’s more realistic: A unicorn, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, or a successful government program?
This isn’t a trick question. Even though I’ve presented both theoretical and empirical arguments against government spending, that doesn’t mean every government program is a failure.
I suppose the answer depends on the definition of success.
Government roads do enable me to get from Virginia to Washington every day. And the Post Office usually gets mail from one side of the country to another. By that standard, many government programs and activities yield positive results.
But if the question is whether government achieves anything...
Congratulations.
One of the easiest ways to demonstrate an inability to think clearly is to pretend that helping just one justifies anything because EVERYTHING is a tradeoff of resources.