>No, I have never been to the US. You seem to be saying that its primarily a
>question of culture and ideology in the US. But to rephrase the question:
>Can the US business not afford a welfare state?
A generous welfare state would be financially viable of course. The threat that a generous welfare state poses to profits is not the financial cost, in fact the alternative, policing and jails are far more expensive. The expense of imprisoning someone dwarfs the cost of paying them welfare.
A generous welfare state threatens profits in an entirely different and more insidious way, it undermines the capitalist system of disciplining wage slaves. Workers who can fall back on a generous welfare safety net tend to become less fearful of their employer, surly and "inefficient". Fear of the "sack" becomes non-existent, employers cannot retain control of the production process and the cost of labour spirals out of control.
So the irony is that the more advanced the technology of production becomes, the more financially affordable it becomes to provide universal economic security, the less affordable it is systematically. Scarcity and insecurity must be artificially maintained. The higher the average incomes, the more essential financial insecurity is, to maintain a balance.
So no, US business cannot afford a generous welfare state. Money isn't the problem though.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas