Niall Ferguson's book, "The Great Degeneration," critiques the concept of the welfare state, asserting that it diverges from the original democratic ideals held by ancient Athenians. He likens the welfare state to a hive where a growing number of dependent individuals, or 'drones,' rely on the productivity of 'worker-bees' for support. This system, according to Ferguson, creates an unsustainable imbalance as it necessitates a considerable workforce dedicated to reallocating resources from productive members of society to those who are dependent.

Furthermore, Ferguson argues that the welfare state finances itself by creating public debt, placing a burden on future generations. He raises concerns about the implications of this system on intergenerational partnerships, a concept championed by Edmund Burke. In the first chapter, he intends to explore the distributional issues within democracy and examine whether current trends indicate a fundamental deterioration of these essential relationships between generations.