Where do I find evidence for this? I just checked, and the welfare state started in the 1880&#x27;s by German conservatives, to fight bottom-up democracy and socialism. (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Welfare_state#History_of_welfare_states" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Welfare_state#History_of_welfa...</a>)<p>Far before then, rulers and nation states restricted human movement. (<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;newint.org&#x2F;features&#x2F;1991&#x2F;09&#x2F;05&#x2F;simply&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;newint.org&#x2F;features&#x2F;1991&#x2F;09&#x2F;05&#x2F;simply&#x2F;</a>)<p>Anyway, the welfare state (which includes government investment in fundamental tech which led to advances like computing, internet, etc) is a major driver of innovation and growth. More humans coming in, treated well, can obviously contribute. (As they already do, exploited for the most miserable societal tasks.)