One of the constants in American politics is debate over the size of the welfare state. Liberals want a larger one, while conservatives want a smaller one. The welfare state has grown larger and larger since its inception in the 1930s, but as William Voegeli observes in "Never Enough," the Left never announces what they believe would constitute a completed welfare state for this country.
In this volume Voegeli looks at the development of the welfare state in the last century, the motivations for enacting it, and the side effects that welfare states have on societies. There are many great tables and graphs that describe the growth of the welfare state, show when it grew most quickly and most slowly, and compare it to other Western welfare states.
The debate over the welfare state encompasses not just which programs should be enacted, but how they must be financed. The author reminds the reader (sadly, such a reminder is needed today) that the health of the welfare state is dependent on the health of the capitalist system. America has historically had a smaller welfare state than Europe, and Voegeli asserts that the large European welfare states are due to the legacy of feudalism—Europeans are more susceptible to the belief that much, much higher taxes, on not just the rich but the middle class as well, and the resultant reduced take-home pay are worth a much more robust welfare state, whereas Americans' tradition of Don't-Tread-On-Me Jeffersonianism helps inoculate us against such a belief.
Voegeli acknowledges that America will not jettison its welfare state anytime soon, and offers his compromise proposal for shoring up the system. Given the daunting (to say the least) level of future unfunded liabilities for welfare state programs, though, likely debates in the future will not be between those advocating huge middle-class tax increases to establish new programs and those who oppose such proposals, but will likely be centered around whether we should have huge middle-class tax increases just to keep the programs that have already been established.
The welfare state is a topic that often results in demagogic arguments and more heat than light in rhetoric during debates over its size, but "Never Enough" is a thoughtful, well-argued volume that provides solid information, and, more importantly, responsible solutions.
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