---
title: Wards of the State
abstract: "The end of work serves communism"
categories:
- culture
content-tags:
- USA
- europe
- government
- economy
- labor
external: https://safelyignored.com/wards-of-the-state
---

> It is difficult to imagine the United States preserving its heritage of individualism, equal rights before the law, free people running their own lives, once it is accepted that a significant part of the population must be made permanent wards of the states.

This quote from [The Bell Curve](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223556.The_Bell_Curve)--taken out of it's original racialist and xenophobic context--succinctly explains why I see more Americans (and their students of meritocracy, the UK and Australia) fretting about the [end of work](http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2014/02/labour-markets-0).

The communalist cultures of Western Europe, even with the neoliberal oligarchical trends of the last few decades, are much better prepared. Despite (or perhaps with the luxury of) [high employment](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/upshot/nordic-nations-show-that-big-safety-net-can-allow-for-leap-in-employment-rate-.html), these strong welfare states already [support part-time work](http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2015/05/economist-explains-12) and can even [experiment with basic income](http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2015/06/utrecht-city-council-to-begin-experiments-with-a-basic-income/).

So when automation means less labor is needed, it will be sensible that people work less. Without labeling them as freeloading pariahs.
