> Even given the inefficiencies of government, it's hard for me to imagine that the same amount of social spending could do more good from the hands of individuals than collective agencies.

(1) Imagine harder.

Get personal experience or talk to someone with personal experience with WIC, food stamps, disability, medicare/medicaid, etc. and you'll find out how inefficient, wasteful, and abused these things are. And I don't just mean by a little bit. I mean by A LOT.

(2) I agree that collective agencies can be more effective than individuals.

But not the government kind that are (a) awfully inefficient and (b) exact their contributions by force. I donate a significant portion of my income voluntarily to organizations of my choice that do good in better ways than writing legally mandated entitlement checks.