World-News

The Weekly Standard
by Matthew Continetti

It’s not every day that you get to witness the birth of a new social system. But General Motors’ June 1 bankruptcy, and the company’s likely reorganization under the ownership of the U.S. Treasury, does suggest the arrival of a novel relationship — at least for the United States — between the citizen and his government. We’ve all encountered the national security state, where individuals give up a degree of civil liberty in exchange for protection from internal and external threats. And we live in a welfare state, where the government imposes obligations on certain individuals, in the form of taxes and duties, in order to secure basic social benefits for the entire populace. But the national security and welfare states are oh-so twentieth-century. This is a new day. This is the dawn of the bailout state... (for publication 06/15/09)

http://tinyurl.com/m45lua


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



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