Which is exactly why the welfare state is so fucked-up–see above. The ultimate effect is to create a class of people who often literally do get away with murder–see Dalrymple. That this group of people today is the underclass rather than the aristocracy is of course one of the great ironies of modern history.

Right, but when I say responsibility I have in mind obligations to others, because I feel that the concept of “obligation to oneself” is generally just another name for self-interest, and when it’s not I find it often to be really an obligation to others in disguise (welfare being a perfect negative example). However, it’s true that my definition is incomplete without mentioning that in an absolute form of individualism the individual would be neither under obligation nor dependence upon others. In this sense welfare is of course a perversion, but the reason I only provided a partial definition is to highlight the fact that, in my opinion, what makes the institution in particular, and our society as a whole to a lesser extent, so virulent is the lack of any sense of obligation to others, which I regard as a grave moral deficiency. In this sense it would perhaps be more accurate to call it a nasty hybrid of individualism and collectivism, but I was mainly at pains to point out that our social problems are not solely attributable to collectivism.

I don’t think that’s coherent. Individualism is personal responsibility. If I have no responsibilities–not even to myself–then my only means of survival is to depend on others–to make them responsible for me, which is decidedly not individualism.