Governments respond to social inequality by hiring more public servants rather than redistributing income.

Evidence

The public service sector plays a critical part in softening the impact of the economic system on those who are not its primary beneficiaries and inducing people to accept the neglect or inadequacy of primary economic and social institutions. … Public support and employment programs expand to ameliorate the impact of unemployment or reduce the incidence of discontent; they contract when employment opportunities improve. Moreover, they are designed and implemented to convey the message that welfare status is to be avoided and that work, however poorly rewarded, is preferable to public assistance. — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 126 (#expands, via linked claim)

Had socialism taken root in America, perhaps the country would have adopted a kind of “social democratic capitalism” that combined a market-based economy with big state investments in public education and social-welfare programs. Perhaps workers’ wages would be considerably higher and CEO compensation considerably lower. Income inequality decreases when unionization increases, as a result of organized labor fighting for better pay for the rank and file and keeping employer power in check. — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 583 (#contradicts, via linked claim)

These austerity maneuvers are not merely technical decisions; they are profoundly political choices. Austerity achieves a crucial goal: it increases workers’ dependence on the market. As the state dismantles health care, education, social housing, transportation, and public services, we must worry about having money in our pockets to meet our basic needs. If we want to secure a good education for our children, adequate medical treatment, a roof to live under, and the right to transportation, we are increasingly tied to the need to have sufficient money, which most of us can obtain in only one way: by selling our capacity to work in exchange for a wage. If we barely have the energy to make it to the end of the month, how can we find the strength to participate in any collective initiative toward alternative economic structures or even just protect our rights? — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 145 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Public agencies have absorbed formerly private responsibilities for the poor. — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 87; Public service programs stabilize capitalism by softening its harms while stigmatizing recipients — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 126; Unionization decreases income inequality by disciplining employer power — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project: A New American Origin…, 583 (+2 more)

Related

• Public service programs stabilize capitalism by softening its harms while stigmatizing recipients (similarity 0.86)
• Public agencies have absorbed formerly private responsibilities for the poor. (similarity 0.83)

Broader Connections

• Public service programs stabilize capitalism by softening its harms while stigmatizing recipients #expands (0.80) — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 126
• Unionization decreases income inequality by disciplining employer power #contradicts (0.78) — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 583
• Defunding public services structurally forces wage-dependence and demobilizes workers #complicates (0.75) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 145
• Big government does not undermine social capital and may foster it #qualifies (0.72) — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 972