St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1963-07-18
Nonsense About
The Welfare State

OF a great deal of nonsense that has been writ
ten and spoken in recent years about the Welfare
State perhaps the most utter nonsense is that pre-
scented in ignorant and preposterolrs article in
June Harper's by Irving Kristol, entitled Us the
Welfare State Obsoete?"
The times do of course cali for discussion and
debate Of welfare policies If only in view of the
increasing Importance Of welfare measures in our
society. But intelligent debate calls for more than
the msinformaton and distortion that Harper's and
Kristol contribute to the subject.
For example Kristol divides us into 1.-THE liberal
community-ie. the teachers, the Journalists the
civil servants the trade unionists the leaders of
minority groups" who "envisage the welfare state
the institution through which it can exercise
power; and the conservative communfty-ie bus
inessmen and their associates"-which sees the
wafare state parveny authority that usurps its
traditional authority :"
From this prepoSterous thesis, Kristol scars
into flights Of fantasy more completely separ-
ated from the realities. Such as the utterly and
demonstrably false assertion that THE kind of crit
icism of foreign aid that was once reserved for use
by Representative Passman has recently been echoed
by Chester Bowles." This is pure invention Otto
Passman is the Di1decrat obstructonst who has al
ways opposed all foreign aid and who has written
categorically that he considers all foreign aid to be
bad Chester BowIes Is of course one of the most
intelligent and most effective proponents of the
judicious use of foreign aid to stimulate economic
development throughout the world. Their positions
are irreconcilably opposed, and why Harpers wants
to represent it otherwise is a mystery
Mr.. Kristols mfsinformation is as astonishing
as it is appalling He tells u.s. for example, that the
Rural Liberalization Administration has announced
that, with American farms electrified its mission
is now completed-and it will henceforth be SELL
ing its electricity TO suburbs In highly unfair COM
petition with private utilities" This is another piece
of pure invention, which the Harper's writer made
up out of whole cloth without benefit Of any work.
ing knowledge Of what the RlEA is
REA never made such announcement It's
mission Is far from completed as the rural electric
cooperatives in a continuous struggle with
power shortage problem requiring REA finances
for transmission lines and generating plants for a
long time into the future. REA does not have cleo
ttcity to SELL 1t neither generates nor distributes
power, but finance local distribution utilities and
regional generating plants Thus the assertion that
R1A plans to compete with private companies in
the suburbs is flat falsehood So far as competition
Of this sort has developed between private companies
and electric cooperatives 1t has about through
the growth Of suburbs out into already served
by cooperative lines and the insistence of private
companies upon distribution rights there.
This sort Of ignorance and confusion In the well
fare debate is miscellaneous and damaging There are
many real questions that need debate and clouding
the issues in this way mpedes intelligent discussion
What is Harper's up to? In the name of welfare
reform does it want to arrest the identification Of
American farms? Does 1t join Representative Pass
man on the foreign aid issue? Does it want to
terminate the public housing program? Does 1t want
to turn our local mass transportation systems over
to General Motors?
study Of the magazine suggests that it looks
favoraby upon all these propositions - which Is
bit shocking when you consider Harper's disting-
uished history and tradition