The General Welfare
All discipline and no support makes Sam a bad Uncle
Sociologist Max Weber focused on the disciplinary nature of the nation-state: The nation-state is the political body that holds a monopoly on legitimate violence in a territory. The legitimacy of the nation-states does not stem from the violence itself (“Might makes right”) but from the support the nation-state offers to what it considers to be its population. Protection from other nation-states and kingdoms among them, certainly, but also relief in times of natural disaster, coordination of economic activities across sometimes-broad regions, and sponsorship of collective endeavors not possible by any other social institution.
The Framers of the 1789 Constitution understood “the government” they were creating would come from the People themselves. They had noted in their goodbye letter to King George III thirteen years earlier that legitimate governance arises from “the consent of the governed.” Long before Weber, they understood the government has a foundation in culture—that the institution itself relies on a shared agreement that the People constitute the state.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
If it is to mean anything, the promotion of the general welfare would include public health: Clean air and water, safe food products (and enough of them), shelter, recreational opportunities, and sufficient medical care as the need arises. Research and education as well as the arts would be promoted. There would be ample means and channels/platforms for public communication, as well as public transportation. As our own government, we would do well to focus on promoting the general welfare as much as the common defence.
A cursory look at the Trump administration’s targets shows actual or proposed cuts to the following general welfare-related policies and programs (among others):
Environmental regulations:
Food safety inspections;
Section 8 housing;
After-school programs;
Medicaid,
Scientific research;
Educational funding;
Public broadcasting.
Oddly, there have been no cuts per se to the Amtrak budget, though the 1.5% proposed increase in funding is quite less than the 6.2% that had been authorized.
And where have we seen significant proposed spending increases? The military and ICE, of course. If the current proposed budget goes through, ICE will have more annual money (~$25b) allocated to it than our federal prison system ($8.3 billion).
Over $100 billion through 2029: This includes significant funding increases for detention facilities, border wall operations, and deportation operations;
$45 billion for detention facilities: This will be a massive expansion of detention capacity, potentially detaining over 110,000 people daily.
As social supports are removed, the state will lose legitimacy and there will be new social institutions vying to replace it. Corporations are the most obvious successor—especially among those who believe the state to be an impediment to “the market” they worship as the source of truth and validity. Breaking down social supports is much easier than it would be, had we added a general welfare amendment to the constitution—one that reflects the collective nature of the nation, the least-common denominator qualities of the public good and their need for ongoing improvement, and that would make the abandonment of classes of people literally unconstitutional.
As the legitimacy of the state crumbles, expect more violence, with no institution apparently able to address it. It will appear as terrorism, not unlike the terrorism we have been experiencing through mass shootings, with a government that does not take measures to curtail them. Like that.
Whatever institution we might create as an alternative to the corporation (because corporations are fascist, determining what clothing you wear, how you present yourself, what you are allowed to say, etc….) we should take care to guarantee our Posterity won’t suffer from whatever semblance of a ruling class we allow to form.