Social Stratification & Social Classes, Political Theory & Ideology, United States Studies, U.S. Politics - General & Miscellaneous, Social Problems

The End of Equality

Name: The End of Equality
Author: Mickey Kaus
ISBN: 9780465098163

by Mickey Kaus

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Overview

In this provocative, far-ranging work, Mickey Kaus tells why Democrats, and the liberal tradition they represent, have failed to come to grips with the profound forces dividing American society. In the process, he sets out a bold framework for a revived Democratic activism. Liberals, Kaus argues, have been obsessed with the very thing they should be trying to render less significant, namely money. Specifically, they are preoccupied with closing the income gap between rich and poor. But, as Kaus demonstrates, the rich are getting richer primarily due to deep, long-term shifts in the economy. Nothing the Democrats propose will even come close to reversing these trends. There is an alternative liberal strategy: to pursue, not money equality but social equality--equality in the way we treat each other in everyday life. Instead of attempting to suppress the inequality of money generated in the market, Kaus contends, liberals should restrict the sphere in which money matters, building a public sphere in which all Americans are respected as equals. That means restoring old "class-mixing" institutions such as the draft, and creating new ones such as a national health care system. It means absorbing the urban "underclass" into the mainstream working culture by replacing cash welfare with a WPA-style jobs program. And it means ending the class segregation of the suburbs. Kaus's proposed "civic liberalism" is anything but moderate. It's sure to be controversial. But it also offers a solution to what may be the country's gravest problem--the fracturing of society along lines of wealth and race. The End of Equality should be at the center of the debate over the future of American politics.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

In this ambitious , accessible and intellectually nourishing policy treatise, New Republic senior editor Kaus proposes a plan to avoid the ``end of equality'' that threatens America as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. For equality and capitalism to coexist, Kaus argues, we must create a public life in which money has limited influence. Thus he calls for compulsory national service and universal health care, renovated public spaces and reformed politics. Maintaining equality would become government's goal. While he names his program ``Civic Liberalism'' and pitches it to Democrats, Kaus is no traditionalist. He reproves ``Money Liberals'' for pursuing, through tax legislation, chimerical ``money equality.'' To integrate the ghetto ``underclass'' into society, he recommends a national jobs program that would transform the ``welfare state'' into the ``work ethic state.'' Kaus believes that if we guarantee jobs to all, while discontinuing welfare compensation for the able-bodied who refuse employment, work will become America's ultimate common denominator. There's something here for everyone to disagree with, but with his crisp, metaphor-rich writing and his command of history and political philosophy, Kaus proves persuasive. (Aug.)