"The bigger the state, the smaller its people."

This is a striking phrase by the American commentator Dennis Prager.

He compares the vitality of American society with the dramatic decline in individual greatness in literature, art, music, the sciences, philosophy and medical breakthroughs in Europe.

Where are the towering figures like Brecht, Chekhov, Debussy, Einstein, Freud, Pasteur, Marconi, Proust, Stravinsky, Tolstoy and Zola, to name but a few?

Or from an earlier age, people like Mozart, Beethoven, Darwin, Manet, Hugo and Van Gogh.

With few exceptions, Europe has lost its creativity, intellectual excitement, industrial innovation and risk taking.

Prager says this happened because of the decline of religion and the rise of the welfare state.

Even the irreligious responded to the great questions of life raised by religion.

Is there a purpose to existence? Is there Good and Evil? Do rights come from the state or from the Creator?

Without a belief in God, there is no higher purpose as everything is the result of mere coincidences.

This drains creativity and dynamism, but so does the expansion of the state.

If the cradle-to-grave welfare state does everything, why do anything yourself?

If everything you earn is highly taxed and the state tries to ensure equality of outcomes, then why strive to excel?

It's a recipe for stagnation and mediocrity.

In contrast, Prager claims America's far greater energy and creativity in almost every area of life is because it is more religious and has rejected the welfare state social model.

What route is South Africa going to follow?

A positive factor is that South Africans are even more religious than Americans, with higher rates of church attendance.

I believe that religion was an under-rated factor in ensuring a relatively peaceful transition from apartheid, and is still neglected as a source of stability.

It gives meaning to the lives of people who otherwise have very little, and underlies many mutual benefit associations and acts of private charity..

It also instills discipline that aids achievement.

With regard to the state's role, our massive poverty makes a safety net essential so that people at least have the basic nutrition, health and education to uplift themselves.

A worrying sign, however, is that we already have the most generous redistributive welfare system in the developing world.

As pointed out by the Centre for Development and Enterprise, there are 5.4 million individual taxpayers, and 13.4 million people drawing social grants.

Growing the welfare net further is not only economically unsustainable, it encourages a dependency culture and possible perverse incentives, as in persistent stories that teenagers have babies to get the child grant.

Social grants can be better designed to ensure that they are not abused e.g. proof provided that child grant beneficiaries attend school and get adequate nutrition.

We should move towards the workfare model where something is expected of welfare recipients that will give them the skills and positive habits that will better allow them to provide for themselves.

Entrepreneurs are the key to sparking growth in new industries. They are highly individualistic, driven to succeed against all obstacles.

The state should water and nurture the garden in which individual initiative can flourish, removing all obstacles like red tape and high taxes.

Then watch as people grow to realise their potential, to everyone's benefit.

Jack Bloom is a Democratic Alliance member of the Gauteng Legislature. This article first appeared in the Citizen, June 9 2009

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter