5 ms·

This is the standard right wing excuses why social programms like they are assumed elsewhere, can't be implemented in the US. But I haven't seen a good explanat

This is the standard right wing excuses why social programms like they are assumed elsewhere, can't be implemented in the US. But I haven't seen a good explanation how one thing prevents the other yet.

protomyth 7y ago
I figure when the USA is capable of providing proper health care and social programs to the tribes it has treaties with, then it can be trusted to provide those same service to its other citizens.
kmlx 7y ago
i had no idea about this being a "right wing excuse". for me it's just a fact that in a high population, high wage, highly regulated society it's much harder to overhaul things radically than in a similar tiny nation. without some sort of a disaster (think WW2), it would be very hard to force everyone to switch from an entrenched system to a different one.
- bigmanwalter 7y ago
  Economies of scale from the larger population and higher wages should make it easier. It is absolutely a right wing excuse.
  - nathanonhn 7y ago
    I don't think that's true at all. Larger projects often fail in ways that smaller ones don't. This is true in technology as in society.
  - kmlx 7y ago
    > Economies of scale from the larger population and higher wages should make it easier. how would it be easier to force 300 million people vs 5 million?
- notfromhere 7y ago
  Nah, it's because 1/2 of the political system thinks the government doing anything is bad.
InvisibleCities 7y ago
When conservatives say that they think the US is too "diverse" for such policies to work, take them at their word. They think that social democracy is fine as long as the benefits don't go to black or brown people. In fact, this was the essence the "grand bargain" that FDR struck to get the New Deal passed with reluctant support from southern Democrats - FDR was allowed to create redistributive programs so long minorities were systematically excluded from them (see Richard Rothstein's "The Color of Law" for examples on how this was achieved through federal housing policy). It's also the reason why the woman Reagan chose as the canonical example of the "welfare queen" (who herself is a fascinating character, see https://pictorial.jezebel.com/the-long-shadow-of-the-welfare-queen-1838856900 https://pictorial.jezebel.com/the-long-shadow-of-the-welfare...) was black.

protomyth 7y ago

I figure when the USA is capable of providing proper health care and social programs to the tribes it has treaties with, then it can be trusted to provide those same service to its other citizens.

kmlx 7y ago

i had no idea about this being a "right wing excuse". for me it's just a fact that in a high population, high wage, highly regulated society it's much harder to overhaul things radically than in a similar tiny nation. without some sort of a disaster (think WW2), it would be very hard to force everyone to switch from an entrenched system to a different one.

bigmanwalter 7y ago
Economies of scale from the larger population and higher wages should make it easier. It is absolutely a right wing excuse.
- nathanonhn 7y ago
  I don't think that's true at all. Larger projects often fail in ways that smaller ones don't. This is true in technology as in society.
- kmlx 7y ago
  > Economies of scale from the larger population and higher wages should make it easier. how would it be easier to force 300 million people vs 5 million?
notfromhere 7y ago
Nah, it's because 1/2 of the political system thinks the government doing anything is bad.

InvisibleCities 7y ago

When conservatives say that they think the US is too "diverse" for such policies to work, take them at their word. They think that social democracy is fine as long as the benefits don't go to black or brown people. In fact, this was the essence the "grand bargain" that FDR struck to get the New Deal passed with reluctant support from southern Democrats - FDR was allowed to create redistributive programs so long minorities were systematically excluded from them (see Richard Rothstein's "The Color of Law" for examples on how this was achieved through federal housing policy). It's also the reason why the woman Reagan chose as the canonical example of the "welfare queen" (who herself is a fascinating character, see https://pictorial.jezebel.com/the-long-shadow-of-the-welfare-queen-1838856900 https://pictorial.jezebel.com/the-long-shadow-of-the-welfare...) was black.