It was compelling to read the November issue of In These Times titled ‘The Welfare State of America‘. Over the other side of the pond, the idea of a welfare state is hardly a controversial topic for most (‘most’) Europeans, especially in those countries like the UK that have long heralded the state pension, the National Health Service and, until not so long ago, free university education. But this has never been the case in America, where talk of the welfare state is often viewed as socialism or even closet Marxism – however ludicrous that might seem to the general public in Western Europe. Not even Prime Minister David Cameron, for all his plans to dismantle the NHS and privatize education in the UK, could declare his outright opposition to the post-war ideal of universal welfare provision.

How refreshing then to see the bold headline of In These Times that speaks a great deal of common sense and practical realism about expanding the welfare state in America. In an editorial titled ‘For the Welfare of All‘ by Frances Fox Piven, the American professor and well-known defendant of universal welfare, she upholds the proposal of Peter Frase and Bhaskar Sunkara in their headline article to inaugurate an anti-austerity campaign that focuses on the expansion of government social welfare programs.