Respnse #1

Response to: Why doesn't the US have a European-style welfare state?

The authors' go through many possible answers to this question.  However, they spend, in my opinion, far too much time on the economic reasons, producing many charts and statistics.  Yet in the end have seem to be unable to say anything really definitive about the effect of economy on redistribution of wealth.  I think that the authors' could have better analyzed the data and set forth a more concrete conclusion.  In the conclusion, the authors state as one of the reasons that Americans have less redistribution than Europeans, as "Americans believe that they live in an open and fair society and that if someone is poor it is his or her own fault." (p.165)  I think that this is the main reason why the US does not have as extensive of a welfare state as Europe.  Our culture teaches us that we need to work for everything that nothing will be handed to you, and if you do not get what you want then you did not work hard enough.  America is always referred to as the 'land of opportunity' so naturally it is assumed that everyone has the chance to make something of their life.  But is that a good thing?  Should the American government be more involved?  Creating programs that better support the poor and downtrodden?  I think that in some instances like health care the US government could do more by way of creating more institutions like Medicare that take care of the needs of the people.  The current system just does not reach enough people and the poorest of the poor are unable to keep up with growing medical costs.  On the other hand, the American welfare system lends to more philanthropy among citizens.  According the article the 11% of American give to charity in one way or another, as opposed to an average of 4% of Europeans.  In this sense Europeans are less likely to give to charity because they rely heavily on the government and do not feel as great an inclination as someone living in the US.  Which is better?  Well, I am biased, but in most regards I am more inclined to like the US's system.  However, I am not the poorest of the poor or a racial minority, so for me the system has almost always worked to my advantage.  In addition, I think that the more philanthropic a nation is, the better off.