Some Wandering Thoughts; J. Unkel

Then the federal government would have to submit its budgets to state legislatures where they could be scrutin[6S ] ized before acceptance. The people would thus have a broader picture of the cost of government. The centraliza tion of power and even the "ism" of the "welfare state" would be well on the way to elilnination. Taxes, I am sure, could be cut to a fraction under such a change, putting the "bureaucrats" in Washington under the "dole" from the states. That would be the kind of "social security" we could stand. The power of the individual state and local governments, and through them the power of the individ ual voters, could be re-established. In 1916, Lenin advised Swiss workers that direct federal taxation would be an instrument through which Switzer land could be socialized. The same for the United States. [64 ] ON MINDING ONE'S OWN BUSINESS THE passion for dealing with social questions is one of the marks of our time. Every man gets some experience of, and makes some observations on social affairs. Except mat ters of health, probably none have such general interest as matters of society. Except matters of health, none are so much afHicted by dogmatism and crude speculation as those which appertain to society. The amateurs in social science always ask: What shall we do? What shall we do with Neighbor A? What shall we do for Neighbor B?