Social Welfare Policy Analysis

1. Social Welfare Policy Analysis A POWER POINT PRESENTATION FEATURING THE LATEST IN TECHNOLOGICAL WIZARDRY AND PEDAGOGICAL LEDGERDEMAIN I MUST BE IN THE WRONG CELL BLOCK! ARE WE GOING TO HAVE TO LISTEN TO THIS STUFF FOR A WHOLE SEMESTER! SSW GRAD STUDENT TERMINATION SCHEDULE NEVER THOUGHT I’D SEE THE DAY! A MAGNUM FORCE PRODUCTION I THOUGHT SOME GUY WAS TEACHING THIS CLASS WAIT A MINUTE! ISN’T THIS STATS 800?

2. NOTA BENE (TAKE HEED!) SLIDES 2-23 CONTAIN INTRODUCTORY MATERIALS. MODULE I BEGINS WITH SLIDE 24.

3. PRODUCTION CREDITS THIS PROJECT HAS BEEN WRITTEN AND PRODUCED BY DAVID H. KATZ, PH.D., MSU SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK.

4. SW 821/101/588686 • HOURS: MT 8 – 9:50 • PLACE: 255 BAKER • OFFICE HOURS: M 10 – 12 • OFFICE: 246 BAKER • E-MAIL: KATZ@MSU.EDU

5. PRODUCTION NOTE: TECHNICAL HELP ALL TECHNICAL QUESTIONS SHOULD BE REFERRED TO COMPUTER CONSULTING @ 432 - 6200

6. PRODUCTION NOTE: EDU-RAMA!* IT’S EDU-RAMA! EDU-RAMA! LOOK FOR THE OFFICIAL EDU-RAMA ! LOGO! IT’S ON SLIDES FEATURING VIDEOS YOU CAN PLAY RIGHT ON YOUR DESKTOP! LIKE THE INSERTS, THE VIDEOS ARE INTENDED TO COMPLEMENT SLIDE PRINT MATERIALS.. *EDU-RAMA! IS THE REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF EDU-RAMA! CORP. OF TEANECK, N.J.

7. PRODUCTION NOTE: INSERTS KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN FOR “INSERTS” • SLIDES MARKED Inserts are what, in newspapers, are sometimes also called “fillers” or boxes: They provide information supplementary to the main text.

8. SEMESTER OVERVIEW (1): MODULE TOPICS MODULE I: CRITICAL THINKING (3 CLASS SESSIONS) PURPOSE To familiarize you with opposing perspectives on social reality and social welfare policy (swp) so as to ensure that you have the conceptual overview needed to analyze specific issues. MODULE II: SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY (SWP) (2 CLASS SESSIONS) PURPOSE Introduction to swp origins, types, and trends, as well as the role of politics in the policy making process. MODULE III: THE WELFARE STATE (WS) (2 CLASS SESSIONS) PURPOSE Emphasis on types of WSs and the impact of globalization. Special attention to “American exceptionalism” as a key to understanding the US WS.

9. SEMESTER OVERVIEW (2): MODULE TOPICS MODULE IV: POVERTY/INEQUALITY (2 CLASS SESSIONS) PURPOSE Poverty and inequality are the “bottom line” issues for social workers because they are the everyday realities confronted by the profession’s traditional clientele. This module explains the origins and dimensions of these phenomena and relates both to the overall direction of the American political economy. MODULE V: HEALTH (3 CLASS SESSIONS) PURPOSE As individuals, professionals, and citizens, social workers have a special interest in health care policy, especially now that managed care has transformed their own role as practitioners.

10. SEMESTER OVERVIEW (3): MODULE SCHEDULE INTRODUCTION - 5/15 MODULE 1 - CRITICAL THINKNG 5/16 – 22 - 23 READINGS: MAINSTREAM: LIBERALISM – PART II, 8-10 CONSERVATISM – PART VI, 25; PART II, 11 RADICAL (called “institutional/critical”) PART IV, 24; PART IV, 26 (393-4/397-99 (TOP)/402-406 MODULE II - SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY - 5/30 – 6/5 READINGS: PART I, 1, 4 MODULE III – THE WELFARE STATE 6/6 – 12 READINGS: PART I, 2-3; PART V IN-CLASS MID-SEMESTER QUIZ 6/6 MODULE IV POVERTY/INEQUALITY 6/13 – 19 READINGS: PART III 13, 16, 20, 21, 23 MODULE V – HEALTH: PHYSICAL & MENTAL/YOUNG & OLD/PAST & FUTURE READINGS: PART III, 15, 16, 18. 6/20 – 26 – 27 PAPER + TAKE HOME FINAL DUE 6/27

11. SEMESTER OVERVIEW (4): THE CUMULATIVE ANGLE SPECIFIC SWPS DETAILED SURVEY OF SOME MAJOR U.S. SWPS. MODULES IV/V THE WELFARE STATE (WS) THE TOTALITY OF ALL SWPS AND THEIR RELATED INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXTS WITHIN A GIVEN NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT. MODULE III SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY (SWP) INTRODUCTION TO THE CONCEPT AND RELATED ISSUES: TYPES AND POLITICS OF SWP MODULE II CRITICAL THINKNG PROVIDES THE ANALYTICAL FOUNDATION AND FRAMEWORK FOR ALL SPECIFIC TOPICS ADDRESSED IN THIS COURSE MODULE i

12. SEMESTER OVERVIEW (5): KEY CONCEPTUAL DIMENSIONS OF THIS COURSE • Theoretical • The functions of swps within the overall “host” society. Key question: Are swps mere palliatives or are they evidence that sustained social progress is possible in a competitive, individualistically – oriented market economy? 2. Political • Who are the political motives and forces supporting or opposing progressive swps? What are their motives? Why are particular policies enacted? Who benefits and who loses? Key question: Which political direction---liberal, conservative, or ?----are future policies most likely to take? 3. Institutional • What are the institutional contexts and mechanics within which policy is made. That is, what are the actual procedures of policy making and how does this process affect actual policy outcomes? Key question: What have been the major institutional changes of recent years and how have these impacted swp legislation? 4. Applied • Seeks to understand policy specifics for practical administrative reasons and to assess the ground level impact such specifics have on client populations. Key question: What are the actual contents of specific swps & what problems are encountered by those seeking to apply them in the field?

13. SEMESTER OVERVIEW (6): MID-SEMESTER QUIZ Purpose The 40 minute in-class mid-semester quiz (to be completed in bluebooks) will account for 20% of your final grade. Its main purpose is to help acclimate you to the standards expected in this course. Most of you should have no problem meeting those standards, but for those who do, the quiz will alert you to the need to upgrade on the final exam and semester paper. YOU WILL CHOOSE 1 OF THE 2 FOLLOWING QUESTIONS: • Discuss why politics is so important in understanding social welfare policy and why one variety of politics---the conservative one---has been so dominant in shaping policy in recent years. • The welfare state is being rapidly transformed both here and abroad. What are the main factors accounting for this change. Also discuss the likely direction the welfare state during the first quarter of the 21st century?

14. SEMESTER OVERVIEW (7): FINAL EXAM AND FINAL PAPER CHOOSE 1 OF THE FOLLOWING 3 QUESTIONS FOR YOUR FINAL EXAM AND 1 FOR THE PAPER. EACH WILL BE WORTH 40% YOUR FINAL GRADE UNLESS YOU DECIDE TO SUBMIT ONLY ONE, WHICH WILL THEN BE WORTH 80% OF YOUR FINAL GRADE. • Apply either a mainstream or radical perspective to one of the issues addressed in this course. (You can also choose an issue not covered in class, if you so desire.) Explain why you think the approach chosen does a better job than the alternatives in analyzing the selected issue. • What exactly is “American exceptionalism” and how has it influenced U.S. social welfare policies? • Discuss in documented detail how the contents of this class have affected your thinking as a future social worker.

15. FINAL EXAM AND FINAL PAPER: SPECIFICATIONS • Both the exam and paper will be completed at home. • Each should be 2x spaced, typed, and stapled or other- wise securely fastened. • The paper should be no more than 10 pages in length; the exam, no more than 8 pages. • You may elect to submit only one of these assignments, but if you do, its results will constitute 80% of your grade. • You cannot use the same question for both. • Please do not ask me to discuss hypothetical answers to the exam or paper.

16. WHAT DOES THIS GUY WANT FROM ME? ANSWER • RELAX – I’M YOUR TEACHER, NOT YOUR PERSECUTOR • ABOVE ALL, I WANT YOU TO THINK ABOUT WHAT IT IS YOU ARE LEARNING. INDEED, IF YOU DO NOT THINK YOU ARE NOT LEARNING, AND IF YOU ARE NOT LEARNING, YOU ARE WASTING BOTH YOUR TIME AND MINE. • LOGICALLY AND COHERENTLY COMMUNICATE WHAT YOU THINK ON THE EXAMS/PAPER. • CONVINCE ME THAT YOU HAVE REALLY THOUGHT ABOUT THE DIFFICULT ISSUES IN THIS CLASS. ANY QUESTIONS?

17. OTHER PRELIMINARY MATTERS (SLIDES 16-22 CAN BE SKIMMED)

18. THIS VERSION OF SOCIAL WORK 821 IS IN STRICT CONFORMITY WITH THE: CSWE GUIDELINES ON SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY EDUCATION NASW CODE OF ETHICS MSU GUIDING PRINCIPLES

19. CSWE GUIDELINES M6.10 SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY/SERVICES THE FOUNDATION SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY AND SERVICES CONTENT MUST INCLUDE THE HISTORY, MISSION, AND PHILOSOPHY OF THE SOCIAL WORK PROFESSION. CONTENT MUST BE PRESENTED ABOUT THE HISTORY AND CURRENT PATTERNS OF PROVISION OF SOCIAL WELFARE SERVICES, THE ROLE OF SOCIAL POLICY IN HELPING OR DETERRING PEOPLE IN THE MAINTENANCE OR ATTAINMENT OF OPTIMAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING, AND THE EFFECT OF POLICY ON SOCIAL WELFARE PRACTICE. STUDENTS MUST BE TAUGHT TO ANALYZE CURRENT SOCIAL POLICY WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY FACTORS THAT SHAPE POLICY. CONTENTS MUST BE PRESENTED ABOUT THE POLITICAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESSES USED TO INFLUENCE POLICY, THE PROCESS OF POLICY FORMULATION, AND THE FRAMEWORKS FOR ANALYZING SOCIAL PROCESSES IN LIGHT OF THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE.

20. CSWE GUIDELINES M6.7 PROMOTION OF SOCIAL/ECO. JUSTICE PROGRAMS OF SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION MUST PROVIDE AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE DYNAMICS AND CONSEQUENCES OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC INJUSTICE, INCLUDING ALL FORMS OF HUMAN OPPRESSION AND DISCRIMINATION. THEY MUST PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH THE SKILLS TO PROMOTE SOCIAL CHANGE AND TO IMPLEMENT A WIDE VARIETY OF INTERVENTIONS THAT FURTHER THE ACHIEVEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE. THEORETICAL AND PRACTICE CONTENT MUST BE PROVIDED ABOUT STRATEGIES OF INTERVENTION FOR ACHIEVING SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE AND OR COMBATING THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF INSTITUTIONALIZED FORMS OF OPPRESSION.

21. NASW CODE OF ETHICS SOCIAL WORKERS PRIMARY GOAL IS TO HELP PEOPLE IN NEED AND TO ADDRESS SOCIAL PROBLEMS. SOCIAL WORKERS CHALLENGE SOCIAL INJUSTICE

22. MSU GUIDING PRINCIPLES • PEOPLE MATTER • ACTIVE LEARNING ACROSS THE MISSION IN HOC SIGNO VINCES

23. AD ASTRA ET PROJECT RECIPIENT SPECIAL MENSCHEN AWARD AMERICAN ACADEMY OF POWERPOINT PROJECTIONISTS

24. MODULE I CRITICAL THINKING READINGS (IN ORDER): PARTS II, 8 – 10; VI, 25; II;PART II, 11; IV 24, 26 (393-4/ 397-99/402-406)

25. JANE ADDAMS MEMORIAL by MITCHELL SIPORIN ILLINOIS FEDERAL ARTS PROJECT, WORKS PROJECT ADMINISTRATIONS (WPA), 1936

26. WHY START A COURSE ON SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY (SWP) WITH AN “ART” SLIDE? BECAUSE… • IT’S BEAUTIFUL, AND BEAUTY IS ITS OWN JUSTIFICATION. • JANE ADDAMS IS THE GREATEST HERO IN THE HISTORY OF SOCIAL WORK, AND, LIKE OTHER PEOPLE, SOCIAL WORKERS NEED HEROES TO INSPIRE THEM. • THE MURAL PROVES THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ONCE SPENT MONEY ON BEAUTIFUL THINGS THAT DENOUNCED THE UGLY THINGS: WAR, SEXISM, RACISM, AND CLASS OPPRESSION. • IN POLITICAL ALLIANCE WITH OTHERS, SOCIAL WORKERS NEED TO REDOUBLE THE FIGHT AGAINST THOSE UGLY THINGS. • LEARNING ABOUT SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY CAN HELP TO PREPARE YOU TO PARTICIPATE IN THAT STRUGGLE.

27. WHY MODULE I IS IMPORTANT (1) • VIRTUALLY ALL SOCIAL SCIENCE/SOCIAL POLICY RESEARCH IS STEEPED IN, BUT NOT NECESSARILY LABELED AS, EITHER MAINSTREAM OR RADICALTHINKING. THAT IS, SOCIAL WORK AND, MORE GENERALLY, SOCIAL SCIENCE ARE INHERENTLY POLITICAL IN NATURE, INSOFAR AS THEY INVOLVE POWER RELATIONSHIPS, AS INDEED DOES ALL OF HUMAN LIFE. • IT IS THEREFORE ESSENTIAL THAT YOU LEARN TO IDENTIFY AND ASSESS THESE DIVERGENT APPROACHES AND DECIDE WHICH OFFERS BETTER INSIGHTS INTO THE COMPLEX POLICY ISSUES DEALT WITH IN THIS CLASS. IN OTHER WORDS, YOU MUST LEARN TO THINK CRITICALLY!

28. WHY MODULE I IS IMPORTANT (2) ANOTHER WAY OF STATING THIS SAME POINT IS TO SAY THAT…. IF CRITICAL THINKING IS A KEY TO UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY, THEN UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MAINSTREAM & RADICAL THINKING IS THE KEY TO CRITICAL THINKING.

29. ARE YOU A MAINSTREAM OR OR A RADICAL THINKER? LET’S SEE WHICH OF THESE APPROACHES BEST REFLECTS THE WAY YOU LOOK AT THE WORLD!

30. THE U.S. POLITICAL SPECTRUM U.S. VIEW OF THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM LEFTRIGHT LIBERALCONSERVATIVE (New Deal/Great Society) (Reagan/Bush) THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM VIEWED FROM ABROAD RADICALMAINSTREAM RIGHT LEFT MARXIST SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC LIBERAL CONSERVATIVE MONARHCHIST FASCIST (CRITICAL) * (INSTITUTIONAL)* THAT IS, VIEWED FROM OUTSIDE THE U.S., AMERICAN POLITICAL DIVISIONS SEEM VERY NARROW: RATHER THAN BEING DIAMETRICAL OPPOSITES, AS AMERICANS GENERALLY BELIEVE, LIBERALISM AND CONSERVATISM ARE SEEN AS NOT THAT DIFFERENT FROM ONE ANOTHER---IN OTHER WORDS, AS BEING TWO FACETS OF THE SAME MAINSTREAM. THE MEANING OF THESE DISTINCTIONS WILL BECOME CLEARER AS WE LOOK AT THESE CONCEPTS MORE CLOSELY. *ALTERNATE TERMS USED IN THE ASSIGNED TEXT CHAPTERS.

31. WHAT LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES SHARE AMERICAN POLITICAL MAINSTREAM CONSERVATISM LIBERALISM

32. MAINSTREAM U.S. POLITICAL THINKING: A SUMMARY (1) • LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES BOTH BELIEVE THAT IDEAS ULTIMATELY DETERMINE SOCIAL REALITY. THUS, OUR ECONOMIC & POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS WERE INSPIRED BY AND CREATED TO PRACTICE, PROMOTE, & DEFEND THE IDEAS OF DEMOCRACY, FREE ENTERPRISE, & EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY. • WHILE OUR IDEAS AND VALUES REFLECT OUR NATIONAL EXPERIENCE, AND FUEL OUR PERSONAL ASPIRATIONS, THEIR VALUE IS REALLY UNIVERSAL. WE AND OTHER PEOPLES CHERISH THEM BECAUSE THEY “WORK.”

33. MAINSTREAM: A SUMMARY (2) • POPULAR ACCEPTANCE OF POWERFUL IDEAS/VALUES, LIKE THOSE JUST CITED, CONSTITUTES SOCIAL PROGRESS. SUCH IDEAS ALWAYS EXIST IN THE ABSTRACT, BUT THEIR ONGOING INCORPORATION INTO “REAL LIFE” DEMONSTRATES THAT HUMANKIND IS INDEED EVOLVING TOWARDS A HIGHER LEVEL. • THE U.S. HAS BEEN THE WORLD’S MORAL AND POLITICAL LEADER BECAUSE ITS IDEAS AND VALUES HAVE REPEATEDLY PROVEN TO BE THE CORRECT ONES---THEY HAVE BEEN MORE EFFECTIVE IN PROMOTING HUMAN BETTERMENT THAN ANY IN HISTORY.

34. MAINSTREAM: A SUMMARY (3) UNDEMOCRATIC POLITICAL IDEAS On the other hand, LEAD TO … UNDEMOCRATIC AND ROTTEN RESULTS

35. THE MAINSTREAM CONCEPTIONS OF POLITICS:A NATIONAL DIALOGUE IN IDEAS • Political campaigning is ostensibly about ideas: candidates are supposed to present their ideas so that we voters can decide who is better prepared to lead the country. • That politics has descended into mere “personality contests” is thus widely deplored, precisely because it deprives voters of rational choices among competing ideas. • A further specifically American presumption is that liberalism and conservatism are the only appropriate idea frameworks (“ideologies”) for policy proposals. (Elsewhere, as noted in slide 30, the ideological spectrum tends to be wider.) • Both ideologies are thus squarely within the mainstream by world standards, and both share key assumptions about social and political reality.

36. MAINSTREAM POLITICAL IDEAS: LIBERALISM AND CONSERVATISM THE POLITICAL SUBSETS OF AMERICAN MAINSTREAMISM WHILE LIBERALISM AND CONSERVATISM ACCEPT THE SAME BASIC GENERAL ORIENTATION, THEY DO DIFFER ON THE FOLLOWING SPECIFICS: • LIBERALISM • EXPANDED SOCIAL WELFARE POLICIES • GREATER EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY • ENHANCED GOVERNMENT REGULATION, AS • NECESSARY FOR SOCIETY AS A WHOLE • REDUCED CORPORATE INFLUENCE VIA CAMPAIGN • LAW CHANGES AND OTHER REFORMS • PROGRESSIVE TAXATION • STRONG ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONSIM • CONSERVATISM • MAXIMUM FEASIBLE SWP PRIVATIZATION • SOCIAL MOBILITY VIA INDIVIDUAL EFFORT • REDUCED GOVERNMENT REGULATION IN • FAVOR OF MARKET MECHANISMS • PROMOTION OF CORPORATE PROFITS AND • MINIMAL CHANGES IN CAMPAIGN LAWS • “FLATTER” TAXES • WEAKER ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONS

37. CONSERVATISM • CONSERVATIVES BELIEVE THAT ADOPTION OF THEIR IDEAS RESULT IN MORE EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT. • THEY ARE CONVINCED THAT GOVERNMENT ECO INTERVENTION SHOULD BE MINIMIZED, SO THAT EACH INDIVIDUAL HAS BOTH THE DISCRETION AND OBLIGATION TO PARTICIPATE IN OUR FREE MARKET SYSTEM.

38. LIBERALISM • LIBERALS (SOMETIMES CALLED “PROGRESSIVES,” A CATEGORY THAT INCLUDES MOST SOCIAL WORKERS) ARE LIKEWISE CONVINCED IN THE MORAL AND LOGICAL SUPERIORITY OF THEIR IDEAS. • THEY CONTEND THAT GOVERNMENT SHOULD PURSUE EQUAL INDIVIDUAL OPPORTUNITY AND SOMEWHAT GREATER EQUALITY OF OUTCOME; IN OTHER WORDS, THAT GOVERNMENT SHOULD HELP TO MAXIMIZE SOCIAL MOBILITY, WHILE LIMITING THE GAP BETWEEN RICH & POOR. “CHALLENGING INJUSTICE,” AS ADVOCATED BY THE NASW CODE, IS THUS A TYPICAL EXPRESSION OF THE LIBERAL CREDO.

39. LIBERALISM VERSUS CONSERVATISM: SPECIFIC ISSUES LET’S LOOK AT SOME SPECIFIC ISSUES IN ORDER TO ILLUSTRATE THE COMMON MAINSTREAM WAY OF INTERPRETING SOCIAL REALITY. FOR EXAMPLE…

40. A MAINSTREAM VIEW OF SOCIAL WORK SOCIAL WORK IS ABOUT 1. HELPING TO EMPOWER INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE SO THAT THEY HAVE GREATER CONTROL OVER THEIR LIVES. 2. PROVIDING THERAPY TO THOSE INDIVIDUALS IN NEED OF SUCH SERVICES. 3. SUPPORTING PASSAGE OF PROGRESSIVE SWPS IN ORDER TO PROMOTE DIVERSITY, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EQUALITY.

41. A MAINSTREAM EXAMPLE: INDIVIDUALISM (1) The following illustration shows how one key mainstream value, individualism, helps to shape our institutions. From a mainstream perspective, our whole lives are quite appropriately based on the individualist “ethos,” whereby each person (“individual”) is responsible for his/her fate. Those who fail accordingly do so because they lack the “right stuff.” This belief necessarily obstructs sympathy for the poor, whom many (a majority of?) affluent Americans conclude have the “wrong stuff” as individuals. Hence their poverty is perceived as merited.

42. MAINSTREAM THINKING AND INDIVIDUALISM (2) ALL OUR INSTITUTIONS ARE BASED ON THIS BELIEF IN INDIVIDUALISM THAT THE INDIVIDUAL IS THE THE FUNDAMENTAL UNIT OF SOCIETY IS THE PIVOTAL IDEA IN AMERICAN SOCIETY

43. ANOTHER EXAMPLE: RACISM (1) Here again, the outlook should be familiar, not least because most Americans essentially share the same mainstream view on this sensitive subject.

44. MAINSTREAM INTERPRETATION OF RACISM (2) Racism is basically an expression of people’s ignorance; an egregious example of what happens when they have the wrong ideas about social reality. To cure it we need to educate the ignorant, so that they understand that people of color are no different in any essential respect from the white majority. Once this truth is absorbed, then Americans of all colors can stop hating and start cooperating. In the meantime, the government needs to pass appropriate laws banning discrimination. Social workers can do their part by promoting diversity and doing more to recruit people of color into the profession

45. SOUND FAMILIAR? • IF MAINSTREAM VIEWS, AS PRESENTED THUS FAR, SOUND FAMILIAR, THAT’S BECAUSE THEY ARE INDEED… MAINSTREAM! • THAT IS, MOST AMERICANS MOST OF THE TIME THINK IN MAINSTREAM WAYS---SO MUCH SO THAT IT NEVER OCCURS TO MOST OF THEM THAT THERE ARE INDEED OTHER WAYS OF UNDERSTANDING REALITY.

46. RADICALISM (1) ALTHOUGH OFTEN SUBTLE AND COMPLEX, THE RADICAL VIEW OF REALITY WAS ESSENTIALLY SUMMARIZED BY KARL MARX, ITS LEADING EXPONENT, AS FOLLOWS:

47. THE RADICAL VIEW OF REALITY (2) “THE IDEAS OF THE RULING CLASS ARE IN EVERY EPOCH THE RULING IDEAS, I.E., THE CLASS WHICH IS THE RULING MATERIAL FORCE IN SOCIETY IS AT THE SAME TIME ITS RULING INTELLECTUAL FORCE. THE CLASS WHICH HAS AT ITS DISPOSAL THE MATERIAL MEANS OF PRODUCTION, HAS CONTROL AT THE SAME TIME OVER THE MEANS OF MENTAL PRODUCTION, SO THAT THEREBY, GENERALLY SPEAKING, THOSE WHO LACK THE MEANS OF MENTAL PRODUCTION ARE SUBJECT TO IT.” KARL MARX, THE GERMAN IDEOLOGY Famous philosopher

48. RADICALISM (3) TRANSLATED AT A RELATIVELY CRUDE LEVEL, MARX WAS SAYING SOMETHING SIMILAR TO THE OBSERVATION ATTRIBUTED TO, A.J. LIEBLING, AN OLD-STYLE NEW YORK NEWSPAPERMAN: “FREEDOM OF THE PRESS BELONGS TO THOSE WHO OWN ONE”

49. SO WHO DOES OWN THE MEDIA, ANYWAY? “A POPULAR GOVERNMENT WITHOUT POPULAR INFORMATION, OR THE MEANS OF ACQUIRING IT, IS BUT A PROLOGUE TO A FARCE OR A TRAGEDY, OR PERHAPS BOTH.” JAMES MADISON (1822) “READ ALL ABOUT IT!” • U.S. BOOK PUBLISHING IS NOW DOMINATED BY 7 FIRMS • U.S. NEWSPAPER PUBLISHING IS NOW DOMINATED BY 6 FIRMS • U.S. CABLE TELEVISION IS NOW DOMINATED BY 6 FIRMS • IN 1900 THE U.S. SOCIALIST PARTY HAD TWO MILLION MEMBERS AND PUBLISHED 325 NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINE; IN 2000 THERE IS NO SOCIALIST PARTY AND ONLY A HANDFUL OF RADICAL PUBLICATIONS • IN 1989 THE LARGEST SITDOWN STRIKE IN 30 YEARS (IN PITTSON, VA.) WAS VIRTUALLY UNREPORTED

50. A WORD FROM AN EXPERT “To a large extent, the absence of informed…politics reflects the power of U.S. media corporations to control and dominate…[political] debate. The corporate media may well be the most powerful adversary in the ranks of capital. They control what the general public sees and reads about the political process in the United States. Critical discussion of media structure is the last thing they want the general public to consider….” Robert W. McChesney Leading media analyst