though i agree with her most of the time, i think yoshie's wrong about religious lefties "just saying no." i look at this a couple of ways. first, "religious" groups aren't different from any other when it comes to intervening in these kinds of situations. at some moment, "repair" becomes a crucial way of operating. so, i wouldn't refuse a panhandler because the welfare state has been destroyed, or refuse to work in the downtown soup kitchen because, as has happened in gainesville, the city rezoned the area around the university so that the churches nearby _couldn't_ offer services to the indigent, hungry etc. offering service is one way of intervening: changing the terms of intervention is another. they aren't contradictory--unless you're mother teresa.
although i'm not quite as giddy about the "end of the welfare state" as some folks like laclau and mouffe, one of the things they get right is that this death might provoke an exacerbation of contradictions in civic, social and cultural life. maybe even in productive ways; maybe not. there is the possibility, anyway, that old corporate liberals might drop their consumptionist attitude toward class conflict (if i pay enough taxes . . . ). i'm not optimistic, but at least there's a possibility for that residual set of attitudes to become something different.
best
christian