126 PART TWO INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS CHAPTER 6*ECONOMIC RIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES 127 ·LYZE THE155下溷 ment is obligated to intervene in order to promote human values,including Events That Force freedom from want and freedom from market exploitation.This "new public Political Chanee philosophy,"as Samuel Beer and others have labeled it,found expression in a In their concem great many New Deal policies and programs."Among them were child-labor and processes,political laws,a minimum wage,the right of labor to bargain collectively,business scientists sometimes fail to acknowledge that great regulation of varying types,public works projects,unemployment compensa- have the powe tion,and social security for the elderly,infimm,handicapped,and widowed. change government The Since the 1930s,the concept of positive government has extended beyond Great Depression of the what even the most ardent New Dealer might have imagined.Government now 1930s,for example, has ongoing responsibilities for regulating,promoting,and monitoring eco- harness the power of a nomic relationships and for protecting individuals from the vagaries of the modern economy and a mass marketplace.Nevertheless,the idea of positive government has not replaced sodety without destroying that of negative government.The two ideas coexist,sometimes uneasily,in what they treasured from American public opinion and public policy.As James David Barber notes, Americans want"security and opportunity,money and liberty,fairness and Rooseveit's New Doal was designed to do exactiy that. variety."They want freedom from govemnment and yet they want government Haw did its palicies (such as to protect them from personal deprivation and loss of control. public work insurance)hark back to old ECONOMIC PRIVILEGES:ENTITLEMENT PROGRAMS new anes? Modern life has led to a weakening of the traditional distinction between a right and a privilege.A right is an individual claim that has unquestioned legal status and protection.A privilege is a claim that does not have clearly defined legal In the food stamp program.as in status andprotection Thus nindividual does not have a right to ohome nt homeownership is a privilege.Yet once an individual owns a home,his or her determine who is“entitled”to ownership is protected by rights of property receive the benefits.(Kevin In recent years,however,certain privileges have almost attained the status of Horan/Picture Group) rights.Most of these involve government entitlemen!progrms.The benefits provided by such programs cannot be denied to individuals who meet the Food stamps for low-income individuals and families criteria for eligibility and are thus "entitled"to the benefits.For example,a retired person who meets the lawful conditions for social security income but School lunch subsidies for poor children whose claim is denied by government can resort to due-process proceedings. Public housing for low-income families Due process has also been a means by which individuals have sometimes forced government to expand entitlement programs.In cases involving public housing and other forms of assistance,courts at times have ordered government to expand eligibility to indlude categories of citizens who appear to have been StAT店5 OMPARES arbitrarily excluded by a govemment agency. Government's Responsibility govemment a leading Today the range of entitlement programs is quite extensive,and these for a Person's Well-Being social-welfare role. PERCENT WHO AGREE Central to Americans'long programs have become every bit as significant to some Americans'lives as tradition of individualism k traditional rights of property and contract.Some leading entitlement programs self-reliance,the ideas tha Goveramex对Should United Great West are: people should take care of States Britain Gerauy themselves and that anyone Providing good medical care 429% Social security benefits for eligible retirees who tres hard cnough 74% 63% Looking after old people 41 58 51 Medical benefits forthe poor(Medicaid)and eligible retirees(Medicare) Guaranteeing jobs by events and policies of the Providing adequate housing 9 Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) past century,but it remains Reducing income inequality 3 25 29 strong.We m Europeans stress individualism,too,but :Rusell J.Dalton. meBeer,Search ofa New Public Philosophy,"in Anthony they tend to be more willing Political Syste(Wiashin than Americans to give am House 9g100