Which of the two political parties in the United States is most to blame for the gutting of American inner cities and the persistence of poverty in the land? I think a good case can be made that they are just about equally responsible. Specifically, a fair amount of guilt has to be shared by two of the worst US presidents of the 20th century: Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson and Republican Richard M. Nixon—the former for his War on Poverty (1964) and the latter for his War on (Some) Drugs (1971).
I do think George Will is at least partly correct in defending Republican politician Paul Ryan's recent statements regarding the cultural component of poverty and the harmful effect the welfare state has had on the culture of work, not only in the United States but everywhere in the industrialized world. Ryan was accused of racism and of blaming the victim, but the issue he was trying to raise was the entirely legitimate one of incentives. Welfare programs lower the negative repercussions of joblessness and single parenthood, both materially and psychologically. Reduce the cost of something, and generally speaking, you can expect to get more of it. As Will writes, "Surely the fact that means-tested entitlement dependency has been destigmatized has something to do with what [economist and demographer Nicholas] Eberstadt terms the 'unprecedented exit from gainful work by adult men.' "
Yet for all the harm caused by Johnson's War on Poverty and its various welfare programs, a great deal of damage has also been caused by Nixon's War on (Some) Drugs. You wanna talk about fatherless homes? Throwing hundreds of thousands of mostly young men in jail for the "crime" of using, possessing, buying, or selling certain mind-altering substances is a surefire way to wreck families. And enforcing the relevant "laws" in a blatantly discriminatory manner is a surefire way to keep racial tensions simmering.
Let's not forget, either, that the poor are far from the only ones who have become addicted to the state's largesse. Many of the rich also feed at the government trough, in the form of corporate subsidies, protective tariffs, supply management schemes, and other similar rackets championed by one political wing or the other, if not both. That kind of entitlement dependency has also been destigmatized, allowing unproductive cronies to sidestep the need to do gainful work.
The United States, and the industrialized world more generally, does have a cultural problem. It's called Big Government, and it undermines individual character formation by distorting the feedback each of us gets from the world. But it's a problem that partisans on both sides of the political spectrum, in different ways, need to address.
Yet for all the harm caused by Johnson's War on Poverty and its various welfare programs, a great deal of damage has also been caused by Nixon's War on (Some) Drugs. You wanna talk about fatherless homes? Throwing hundreds of thousands of mostly young men in jail for the "crime" of using, possessing, buying, or selling certain mind-altering substances is a surefire way to wreck families. And enforcing the relevant "laws" in a blatantly discriminatory manner is a surefire way to keep racial tensions simmering.
Let's not forget, either, that the poor are far from the only ones who have become addicted to the state's largesse. Many of the rich also feed at the government trough, in the form of corporate subsidies, protective tariffs, supply management schemes, and other similar rackets championed by one political wing or the other, if not both. That kind of entitlement dependency has also been destigmatized, allowing unproductive cronies to sidestep the need to do gainful work.
The United States, and the industrialized world more generally, does have a cultural problem. It's called Big Government, and it undermines individual character formation by distorting the feedback each of us gets from the world. But it's a problem that partisans on both sides of the political spectrum, in different ways, need to address.