Public Policies of Attainment verses Policies of Containment

In the War on the Poor and Middle Class, the rhetoric of the political right continues on and on about how people can get ahead simply by pulling themselves up by the bootstraps. The Great American Myth has been that if you work long enough and hard enough, that you too will be able to rise above your station and conditions of birth to enjoy the “American Dream”. However, when one looks at the reality of the situation; the United States has some of the lowest numbers for upward social mobility of all the modern First World Nations. If anything, the direction of social mobility in the US is in reverse, shrinking the traditional middle class in the process. No matter the political orientation, right or left; the consensus is that a nation is as only as strong as its middle class and the narrowing of the middle class is an indication of something is amiss.

United States social and economic policies have been formulated to support the upward mobility myth and the economic continuous growth model.  The effectiveness of social and economic policies has been coming apart at the seams for the last four decades resulting in the rich getting richer, the poor and working poor getting poorer and expanding; and the middle class contracting. Why have these policies failed so miserably?

The answer is to be found in the basic foundations on which the policies were formulated. The first assumption is that the upward mobility is an actuality and not just a myth. To actualize upward mobility, certain conditions must be met. First and foremost, there must be a path to upward movement that is attainable with a reasonable amount of effort.  That path is pretty straight forward involving the following:

·         There must be a level of Survival Security. Everyone requires food, shelter, healthcare and clothing. In addition, people need a safe and nurturing environment. This is the most basic conditions upon which upward mobility can be built.

·         Our education system must provide a means to effective learning. Pre-school, primary and secondary schools must adequately educate the student to become a literate and full functioning adult. Schools must educate to the needs of the future and not just the present or the past. The secondary education system must provide jobs skills and life skills training. There must be attainable post secondary education that is both affordable and meaningful, to not only the individual but to society as a whole. There must be ongoing education opportunities that will respond to changes and is flexible enough to allow for continuous skill and professional growth.

·         Critical to upward mobility is employment. There must be adequate positions available to provide employment to all skill levels, from workforce entry to retirement. Except for workforce entry positions, employment positions must be family sustaining. Employment positions must provide enough income to produce an excess beyond simple survival security. All positions, except for workforce entry, must be focused on long term sustainability. Finally, when employment contraction occurs or significantly changes, then there must be a safety net available to prevent family financial ruin.

·         A successful society must socially and psychologically support the value of labor rather than deride labor. Societies that have the greatest upward mobility provide for the needs of the worker through providing first rate childcare, paid maternity leave, equal pay for equal work, a safe work environment and allow labor a place at the table when formulating public policy. Labor must not be seen as something to be overcome or controlled, but must be viewed as a partner in achieving economic attainment.

The formulation of public policy at all levels; whether local, county, state, or federal must be reviewed and reformed to reflect a new commitment to real upward mobility. Upward mobility should and must be the goal, which requires significant rethinking of what upward mobility means. For example; if we continue to physically, socially and economically attempt to contain poverty, crime and suffering to certain geographical areas of our urban or rural areas, we are not only promoting social injustice to those caught up in those conditions, but we weaken the overall strength and stability of American society.

Another factor that significantly impacts attainment is the economic policies adopted by the nation. By now, it should be obvious to even the most casual observers, that the nation has made many serious errors in the formulation and application of macro and micro economic policies. There has been a naivety on the part of policy makers to think that industries and economic segments could or would be capable of self regulation. The last four decades; economic policy can be best summarized as handing the keys to the hen house to the fox. Business and business interests have taken control of government policy making; leaving, we the people, to suffer the consequences of the pursuit of businesses self interest. The needs and well being of the citizen has been supplanted by satisfying the Return On Investment of the shareholder and business owner.

It is time to realize that there is a need for government as a planner, mediator and protector of the citizens’ interests. The idea of a smaller government is ludicrous given the size and demographics of the nation. A streamlined and more efficient government should be the goal. We are guaranteeing the failure of government functionality by always attempting to underfund the most essential services that benefit the citizenry the most. Our own state government is a good example of redirecting focus away from the general citizen’s well being and adopting policies of what’s good for the wealthiest and most powerful is in the best interest of the citizen; classic “trickle down” theory. This economic model has proven over time to be a complete failure and yet we in Wisconsin are being held back by the dim witted currently in power. Rather than waiting for business to step forward to create jobs and restore the economy in the state, it is time for the state government to step forward and invest in public service and the creation of economic opportunities within the segments that need it the most.

The state government has created a capital investment fund.  Who is going to benefit from it? Is it going to continue that the state will support the same old faces? This investment fund should be primarily focused on our blighted urban areas and low employment rural areas. We need to create a system of business support similar to the system that we have created in the family and child welfare system. We have found that social workers provide the needed support to families and children, why can’t we create business social workers to support the creation of economies within the blighted areas? They would be state employees whose whole focus is to address the economic issues. Only by becoming creative and work outside of the box will we be able to turn around our current plight.

The policies that we formulate and enact must be focused on attainment and not just containment as they are now. Forward thinking and planning require the willingness to smartly spend the public’s money and not to continue policies that only support the thinking of the past.