| Mr Khan said:
That's called teamwork. |
To some degree yes, while at the same time it isn't ...
When you're talking about services that everyone benefits from because they receive more from pooling their resources than by working on their own it is called teamwork; when you're talking about forcing one group to pay for a benefit of another group due simply because the group that benefits outnumbers the group that pays you're talking about tyranny of the majority.
It can be argued that everyone benefits from national security, emergency services, roads and infastructure, and public education and that these services represent teamwork; but when you're talking about programs like welfare that provide no long term benefit to anyone and force one person to pay for another this can hardly be called teamwork.
One of my favourite childhood folk-tales demonstrates this pretty clearly:
Once upon a time, there was a little red hen who lived on a farm. She was friends with a lazy dog, a sleepy cat, and a noisy yellow duck.
One day the little red hen found some seeds on the ground. The little red hen had an idea. She would plant the seeds.
The little red hen asked her friends, "Who will help me plant the seeds ?"
"Not I," barked the lazy dog.
"Not I," purred the sleepy cat.
"Not I," quacked the noisy yellow duck.
"Then I will," said the little red hen. So the little red hen planted the seeds all by herself.
When the seeds had grown, the little red hen asked her friends, "Who will help me cut the wheat ?"
"Not I," barked the lazy dog.
"Not I," purred the sleepy cat.
"Not I," quacked the noisy yellow duck.
"Then I will," said the little red hen. So the little red hen cut the wheat all by herself.
When all the wheat was cut, the little red hen asked her friends, "Who will help me take the wheat to the mill to be ground into flour ?"
"Not I," barked the lazy dog.
"Not I," purred the sleepy cat.
"Not I," quacked the noisy yellow duck.
"Then I will," said the little red hen. So the little red hen brought the wheat to the mill all by herself, ground the wheat into flour, and carried the heavy sack of flour back to the farm.
The tired little red hen asked her friends, "Who will help me bake the bread ?"
"Not I," barked the lazy dog.
"Not I," purred the sleepy cat.
"Not I," quacked the noisy yellow duck.
"Then I will," said the little red hen. So the little red hen baked the bread all by herself.
When the bread was finished, the tired little red hen asked her friends, "Who will help me eat the bread ?"
"I will," barked the lazy dog.
"I will," purred the sleepy cat.
"I will," quacked the noisy yellow duck.
"No!" said the little red hen. "I will." And the little red hen ate the bread all by herself.
