> Boy, is this ever true. But if they did give money to the poor and
> eliminate the educated middle class, this would prevent poor people
> from feeling ashamed of being poor and would make it hard for educated
> middle class people to feel superior. So, you would lose a lot of
> class dynamics that are very useful to those in power.
Even more importantly, I think, you can't just up and give people money if you are a capitalist government. Capitalism is based on pressuring people to work for wages, and any sort of welfare program that shovels out cash to folks has to be very carefully designed or disguised so that it gives the appearance of only giving them what they have "earned" or somehow or other "deserve" for "legitimate" reasons. I think this is a big reason for the campaign to replace social security with savings accounts -- saving for retirement is "legitimate" because it is virtuous to set aside something from your wages in the cookie jar for your old age.
I think this is related to what economists (who should feel free to correct me if I make mistakes on this, which I probably will) call the "Speenhamland system," referring to a district in England where the government decided in 1795 to give out tax money to everyone who was receiving less than a subsistence level income to bring everyone's income up to that level. This system spread to other parts of the country, but it had the effect of driving wages in many places towards zero, since, if the government is paying people, why should they?
Ever since then, direct cash grants by government to poor people have been extremely problematic in capitalism. It is highly hypocritical for conservative economists to suggest doing such a thing, since they are perfectly well aware of all of this.
An interesting paper by a New Zealander on drawing conclusions from Speenhamland for contemporary welfare issues is at <http://www.ak.planet.gen.nz/~keithr/rf98_Speenhamland.html>.
Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org __________________________________ When I was a little boy, I had but a little wit, 'Tis a long time ago, and I have no more yet; Nor ever ever shall, until that I die, For the longer I live the more fool am I. -- Wit and Mirth, an Antidote against Melancholy (1684)