Suchergebnisse

The welfare state is now under political attack in the US. Under current conditions, government action in general is suspect; conservatives, neoconservatives, & many liberals appear to agree in regarding welfare programs as undesirable. Social Security, apart from AFDC, is generally popularly supported, along with other New Deal programs. The Great Society programs, unlike these older programs, concentrate on aid specifically to the disadvantaged; these have come into discredit, though recent reassessments show an increasing willingness to see their results as a mixture of successes & failures. Under the Nixon Administration, the tendency was generally retrogressive. Nixon's Family Assistance Program & Carter's Program for Better Jobs & Incomes failed to gain congressional support, largely due to public unwillingness to subsidize the employed poor. Comparable problems have faced national health insurance & full employment programs. A variety of other strains are also visible. The shift from economic growth to economic stagnation has made both new & existing entitlements controversial, & has created a danger of political repression in the interests of corporate business. In the long run, however, US commitment to democratic values can be expected to win out. W. H. Stoddard.

Comments on a questionnaire survey of student attitudes published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Oct. 2, 1978.