I RECALL a childhood memory of my mother arguing over a taxi fare with a friend.

“I’ll pay,” said one. “No, no, let me,” said the other.

I wondered why one wouldn’t jump at the offer of a free ride. Of course, it’s only as we mature that we start to develop the self-esteem which makes us dislike being beholden to others.

Consider a not uncommon experience: you take a girlfriend out for an evening with another couple. The fellow is better-heeled than you, the restaurant more expensive than you thought. He orders the wine and it becomes apparent that it is going to be an expensive evening. When the bill comes, he offers to pay for you all.

You won’t have any of it – being shown up in front of a new girlfriend. If you can’t look after your own, then who are you? It is quite normal to take pride in fending for yourself and not being reliant on others.

I was on the panel of a local “any questions” session recently. One questioner asked: “If it would guarantee better public services, do you agree we should pay higher taxes?”

I have never been convinced that spending more necessarily leads to better quality public services. I prefer people to take responsibility for their own lives. I expected this to be a minority view and I was right.

What surprised me was a demand from others on the panel and from a minority in the audience that they had a right to these services without having to pay for them. It became apparent that the higher taxes indicated in the question ought to be paid by someone else – the rich, foreigners and big corporations.

The next question was whether student fees of £9,000 per year are fair. I pointed out that a degree course costs more than £20,000 per year, so offering it at £9,000 represents a bargain. Clearly, there has to be some balance between the interests of the student and the taxpayer. A university education is an investment to secure a better-educated workforce.

It is also an investment on the part of the student to secure a more rewarding career. There ought to be a balance of risks and costs shared between taxpayers and students. We were soon back where we were with the previous question, however – ordinary taxpayers shouldn’t pay because others should.

It is a delusion that all sorts of things can be had just by taxing the rich, or that you build the poor man up by pulling the rich man down. It just doesn’t work. There is, however, something more troubling than sloppy economic thinking at work here. Have we lost all sense of self-esteem, have years of welfare “entitlement” left us grasping for whatever we can get – so long as somebody else is paying