The end of convenience. The welfare state is both friend and foe. For some, it is an indispensable achievement of a social society. For others, it represents a corset that restricts individual freedom. Gerd Habermann presents what is likely the most thorough examination of the ideas behind this social construct, revealing what truly lies behind it and why the term welfare state is a euphemism. The illusion that parts of the population can live indefinitely at the expense of others cannot be maintained, as the welfare state destroys the economic, moral, and biological substance on which it relies. Habermann exposes the coercive structures that collide with the citizens' need for individual decision-making freedom. In a broad historical context, Habermann describes this.