What Government Can Do
Abell, W. Shepherdson & Page, Benjamin I. & Simmons, James R.
IN GOVERNMENT WE TRUST W. Shepherdson Abell The recent presidential campaign may have left some doubt as to where George W. Bush and Al Gore really stood on "big government." There is no...
...REV...
...The Catholic social tradition, as far as I know, has focused much more on getting everyone up to a decent standard of living, and hardly at all on the issue of equality as a goal in itself...
...If we could ensure that everyone in this country had a decent standard of living and the opportunity (and ability) to hold a good job, would it be a bad thing that CEOs, baseball players, and dot-com secretaries had millions of dollars...
...Is anybody listening to them...
...This is a very tall order indeed...
...Page and Simmons are in favor of sharply progressive tax rates, easy monetary policy, affirmative action, abortion rights, putting far fewer people in prison, national health care, lower spending on the military, and greatly increased spending on virtually every social program under the sun...
...These academics are very much for it, and, in a reasoned and carefully documented book, they explain exactly why...
...They support their own positions with copious references to studies on the real-world effects of the various government programs they advocate...
...Vail, Colo...
...The Catholic tradition has given greater weight to personal responsibility...
...That doesn't mean, of course, that it's not morally correct...
...Oh well...
...Page and Simmons believe that inequality is a problem that ranks with poverty...
...Page and Simmons are especially good at unearthing the theoretical and practical roots of policy disputes...
...The authors put no price tag on it, but consider that a wealthy nation ought to be able to afford it all...
...This argument may provoke the thoughtful reader to consider how large a part the qualities of perseverance and industry, so prized by our society, may really be traits at least partly inherited, or affected by a hard childhood...
...24...
...This ought to lead, in their view, to government programs that insure children against the misfortunes of bad genes, inadequate nutrition, or the lack of loving parents— and insure adults against the effects of those childhood misfortunes...
...A second point of interest has to do with "social insurance...
...Page and Simmons swallow the prochoice line completely, arguing that we can reduce poverty by preventing children from being "cast into hopeless situations as infants...
...the Clinton administration estimated that during the second half of the 1980s, as many as 7 million Americans were homeless at one time or other...
...It is also wildly unrealistic in this political climate...
...Still, the Page and Simmons case that government should be doing more for the less fortunate is persuasive...
...By the final chapter, I wondered whether it was just coincidental that all the methodologically sound research referred to by the authors happened to support George McGovern's campaign in 1972...
...an extensive program of social insurance...
...Here the authors have in mind not just Social Security, Medicare, and the like, but a much 22 broader conception that "would consider people's chances of being stuck with deficient genetic endowments or a deficient upbringing—or landing in a hostile environment—as being risks against which society should at least partly insure its members...
...For instance, they demonstrate convincingly that much more could be done for the working poor without stifling individual initiative...
...There are other disappointing notes...
...How long can we afford to lose this critically important segment of the Catholic church in favor of a moral theology of sexuality that appears so rigid and static...
...and universal, governmentfunded rights to health, food, and housing...
...23 them...
...I was left with nagging doubts about the book's enthusiastic reading of government's ability to do all things well...
...No red hat Luke Timothy Johnson's incisive critique of John Paul II's pronouncements on love, sex, and pleasure should be studied and openly discussed in every Catholi college and Newman Club in the nation—together with Paul Baumann's humorous reflections on George Weigel's biography of our pope ("Crossing the Threshold," December 3, 1999...
...There is no doubt where Benjamin Page and James Simmons stand...
...Maybe that's why there is such massive apostacy among young people of marrying age, as well as so many who are married...
...The first is implied in the book's subtitle: Dealing with Poverty and Inequality...
...Although clearly written, it can be a slow read...
...That is why they advocate a 70-percent incometax levy on the richest Americans, and the taxation of things like the "imputed" rental value of the homes we own— not because the government needs the money to fund other programs, but because the leveling effect is good in itself...
...Still, the argument seems strained and somewhat reductionist...
...This book contains substantial factual background on an array of policy issues, and there are nuggets of new (to me) and striking information throughout...
...But is it...
...a full supply of jobs at decent wages...
...Give me that oldtime religion...
...But inequality matters greatly to Page and Simmons...
...To be fair, the authors acknowledge that despite all the genetic and environmental forces, people have some control over what they do or do not achieve—but not, you surmise, very much...
...Of course, both will be decried by those who believe Catholics should all walk in lock step with any current papal teaching, especially in matters of sexual ethics...
...ANDREW GALLIGAN Tracy, Calif...
...For the most part, although their own convictions are clear and passionately held, they attempt to be fair in setting out opposing views...
...Most of them have long ago put aside church teaching on birth control...
...Equality of opportunity is not to be available to the unborn...
...Unless you're a statistics junkie, the book may be too full of information...
...Both of these Commonweal articles are priceless and full of wisdom from men who have actually "been there and done that...
...To be sure, Luke Timothy Johnson will not be joining Avery Dulles at the next consistory...
...For instance, although the number of people homeless at any given time during the 1980s may have been in the range of 350,000, that translates to 1.2 million over the course of a typical year, because people move in and out of homelessness...
...Two arguments are especially interesting for Catholics grounded in the church's social tradition...
...GEORGE R. FITZGERALD, C.S.P...
...Four core approaches to poverty and equality are advanced: enhanced education...
...Yet it contains illuminating discussions of how progressive the overall tax system is (not very), the impact of the availability of public assistance on young women having children (not great), and which military spending helps the poor and which tends to benefit the wealthy (you'll have to read that part yourself...
Vol. 128 • February 2001 • No. 4
