--- Joseph Catron <jncatron at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 3, 2008 at 8:19 AM, Doug Henwood
> <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>
> > There's a big political and economic difference
> between universal
> > programs - social security, public health
> insurance - and targeted
> > ones like the EITC.
>
> ...
>
> > The point of the EITC is to
> > leave our lopsided wage structure intact (and to
> make welfare reform
> > more palatable).
>
> How is the EITC any more targeted than your average
> welfare program?
>
> And whether you like soaring Marxist rhetoric or
> not, hasn't the
> primary purpose of welfare always been to maintain a
> surplus army of
> labor?
[WS:] Only when you think in conspiratorial or teleological terms. Historically, the so called welfare programs were hard won victories of the working class, or rather organized labor. Europe went much further on that road than the US because it had much stronger and better organized labor. I think one of the biggest strategic mistakes of the US organized labor was striving for targeted benefits to union members instead of universal ones to the entire working/middle class.
But the fact that the US has shitty social welfare programs (16% of the GDP vis a vis 25-30% in EU) is not some grand scheme of "the system" or capitalist "conspiracy" - but the failure of the US labor to win more of the right stuff.
When we are at that, I tend to agree with Cmde. Kleiner that mere or "nominal" wage increases will not do - as they can be easily offset by price increases (inflation.) It is the provision of collective goods (health care, education, social safety net, public infrastructure, etc.) that realy makes the difference for the working/middle class. Unfortunately, the US working and middle classes fail to see that, as they have been thoroughly bamboozled to accept the mythology of the market and private ownership of the "Amerikan Dream."
Wojtek
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