Saturday, December 18, 2010
"Capitalism and the Welfare State"
William Van Ornum, over at America, shares this post, called "Capitalism and the Welfare State", in which he engages this interesting question, which was raised by Jim Manzi at National Review a few days ago:
"How can capitalism and democracy become less inimical--or even partners with--the kind of Catholic social justice pioneered by Leo XII and now extended by B16 in his call for universal health coverage?"
First, hats off to Van Ornum, Manzi, America, and National Review for this cross-political-camps exchange, which seems to me to have potential. Next, what do people think of Van Ornum's statement that:
Jim Manzi does us all a favor, first by clearly stating the four major activities of a welfare state, then by unbundling the five elements that undergird the working welfare state. He argues that welfare programs provide a safety net; they incorporate varying levels of risk; they may require prudent behavior on the part of beneficiaries; they may redistribute wealth beyond the theoretical dimensions of an Adam Smith capitalism; and they may provide goods and services directly to recipients.
A careful reading of Manzi, I suspect, can help us to a common ground discussion rather than either/or arguments based on dogmatism or restatements of past ideologies. What do you think? Some possible questions for discussion: How much of a safety net should the state provide in pensions? Should state sponsored healthcare cover the smallers things or just emergencies? How do we determine who deserves welfare payments? What consitutes an adequate level of investment in public education?
https://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2010/12/capitalism-and-the-welfare-state.html
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Always a timely question. A couple of observations from the Free Markets point of view:
1. Charity will always be needed, and it may require the financial deep pockets of a remote State, but it is always best delivered by the smallest unit possible. So for instance it is right that the federal government provide money for the upkeep of mentally retarded, but it is always best to do in the format of vouchers for the person's family to use.
2. Charity that comes from on high should wherever possible be framed as an actionable right. The oldest, and most successful, welfare state on record was the ancient kingdom of Ireland (Eireann). It worked because it was premised on a declaration of rights of every citizen: a right to one square meal a day for instance. Actually, one of the rights (appropriate to the elderly living alone) was the right to have one's hair washed once a week.
In every locality there was a public official whose job it was to deliver on these rights. If a citizen was shorted, he had an actionable right against the official, and if the court ruled that the citizen had been unjustly denied his rights the official would lose his very prestigious post. In other words, someone was accountable.