General Welfare

What does the phrase "promote the general welfare" really mean?  Is it that the Federal government is charged with ensuring the comfort and safety of every citizen?  This phrase has been widely abused as justification for the Federal government to assert its authority and guidance into the daily lives of its citizens.

Let's start with a four-level scale of doing good for others:  1) I can do good for an individual (specific welfare).  2) I can do good for a small group of people (minority welfare).  3) I can do good for a large group of people (majority welfare).  4) I can do good for all of the people (general welfare).

General Welfare can best be understood by looking at the two words that compose the phrase.  General is the opposite of specific... a general anesthetic numbs a large portion of the body; general operating expenses are the routine costs of running a business.  GENERAL welfare would be something that applies roughly equally to all of the people - all of the citizens - of the United States.

Welfare (before it became a pseudonym for government programs) meant good fortune, health or prosperity.  In other words if something promotes a person's welfare then it generates an enhancement or improvement.  The Federal government is therefore intended to provide improvement in people's lives, not roadblocks to their individual pursuits of happiness.  General WELFARE means that the government's mission is to be a source of positive benefit to the majority of the citizens (if not all of the citizens) without creating conditions for individuals or small groups to gain favor over others.

GENERAL WELFARE means that the Federal government cannot engage in actions which affect or influence only a portion of the population.  The Federal government cannot, for example, engage in a benefit program that only touches people in poverty or people with housing needs or people in need of food.  Those needs are too specific for a Federal government to engage in.  These needs are better addressed by individual people, by churches or other charitable organizations, or (perhaps) by local governments if the people choose to abdicate their responsibility to their neighbors and appoint government representatives instead.  General welfare actually means the opposite of the programs that bear the label "welfare".

Identifying the promotion of the general welfare serves as a limit, not a baseline.  The Federal government must NOT engage in any activity that benefits only a PORTION of the population.  The Federal government must NOT engage in any activity that HARMS the majority of the population.  The Federal government must ONLY engage in those activities that are both 1) generally applicable to all of the citizens (or a vast majority) and 2) serves to enhance, improve or ameliorate the lives of the citizens that it serves.  Some specific examples of General Welfare can be found in the adjacent items in the Preamble: Establish Justice; Insure Domestic Tranquility; and Provide for the Common Defense.