Charles Murray put it perfectly:
“A meaningful friendship does not consist of sharing backyard barbecues; a satisfying marriage does not consist of two people living together; a vibrant community is not created by yard sales. All of these relationships are given weight and consequence by the elemental events of life — birth, death, raising children, paying the rent, comforting the sad, joining together to do things that need getting done and (crucial point here) having responsibility for getting those things done. The welfare state says of too many important functions in life, “We’ll take care of that.” The natural human response is to say, “Okay, you do it.” And in this transfer of responsibility the welfare state has drained too much of the life from life.”