Summarizing what sounds like a worthwhile article by Richard duBoff, Mike M. writes that >> That is the social compact entailed in the social security act.<< I think that's the way social security would be in an ideal world, but that's not the way it is. I would say instead that the social security system (not only in the U.S. but elsewhere) represents a _compromise_ reflecting the balance of political forces at the time of its enactment (and the balance of those forces at each point when the social security act was amended). There are some good things in the SSA that reflect the working class efforts to push for even better results, which reflect the ideals which we'd like to achieve, but there are also parts that reflect the ruling class efforts to limit the program and to foist their ideals on us (for example, the regressive tax used to finance the system). There are also limits on the SS system due to problems with the working class itself: for example, last time I heard, the SS benefits to full-time (and thus unpaid) homemakers were totally dependent on those of their paid spouses, which might tie a woman to a husband she hates due to financial exigency. (Please correct me if I'm wrong about this.) So let's not idealize the SS system even though it might embody some of our ideals. Instead, we might think of ways to reform the system to make it better. On this point, consider the welfare system. Along time ago, U.S. Presidential candidate George McGovern proposed a negative income tax (endorsed by James Tobin, among others). Others have proposed France-type family allowances. Either of these systems, it seems to me, deal with the valid criticisms of the current U.S. welfare system (the disincentive to work due to loss of income when going off the program, the paternalism, the complexity, etc.) without buying into the crap that politicians are pushing. So the slogan shouldn't be "save the program!" but instead "save the program by reforming it!" Maybe this will help build the grass-roots movement needed to force new progressive reforms out of the ruling class. BTW, the current BUSINESS WEEK has an article about the hardening of the US class system. So maybe this will spawn a labor party (or support for demagogues like Pat Buchanan). in pen-l solidarity, Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] Econ. Dept., Loyola Marymount Univ. 7900 Loyola Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045-8410 USA 310/338-2948 (daytime, during workweek); FAX: 310/338-1950 "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- K. Marx, paraphrasing Dante A.
