The Frayed Net

When George W. Bush failed in business he had a safety net to catch him and cushion the blow. It was called his family's wealth and connections.

The social safety net familiar to most Americans has been torn so often that it is barely recognizable. The conservative ideology that prevails across the land is Darwinian, dog eat dog, dog against dog. Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps and don't complain if you fail. Make your own opportunities. Poverty is a sign of personal and moral shortcoming.

From what I read this ethos was also dominant at the beginning of the 20th century, when there was a yawning gap between rich and poor and corporate power went unchecked.

George W. Bush, the sneering fool who is our elected president (despite rampant voting irregularities in Ohio), will be inauguarated today. George won by a slim margin but in typical Bush fashion, claims to have a mandate from the people for his agenda, which includes partial privatization of Social Security.

Social Security, a product of the New Deal, is one of the most successful government programs in history, a compact between citizens and their government, a promise that no one will be forced to live in extreme poverty in their old age. My grandmother retired at 65 and lived to be 93, and for those twenty-eight years Social Security was her primary source of income. It paid for the basics -- a subsidized apartment, food, clothing, medical care, very few frills. Social Security allowed my grandmother to maintain her independence.

The Bush gang claims that Social Security is in crisis and will collapse unless the program is turned over to the magic of the market. What the Bushies don't mention is that the crisis point is thirty-five or forty years in the future. Until then, Social Security is relatively healthy, able to pay the benefits it has promised working Americans.

The prevailing ideology paints anything Public as flawed and inefficient. Whatever the public sector can do, the private sector can do better. All we must do is have faith in the power and magic of the market, of unbridled competition.It sounds great, in theory. The reality of unchecked corporate power is less rosy. Remember the S&L scandal under the Reagan administration? Remember who ultimately paid for that fiasco? Remember Enron, Halliburton, Northrop?

When George W. Bush failed his private safety net caught him and set him back on his feet. If George has his way, the majority of us might not be so fortunate.

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How gratifying was it to see Condi Rice solemnly telling senators that the time for American diplomacy is now. After torpedoing foreign relations for the past three years, Condi now thinks it would be a grand idea to get back in the good graces of our traditional allies.

What will the Bush braintrust think of next?