George,
I agree with much of what you say, though judging by the growth of 'conditionality' (services and benefits only on condition that people behave in certain deserving ways) in many aspects of UK health and social policy, I am not sure the USA is all that splendidly, culturally isolated. Something to do with models of state capitalism perhaps.
With regard to Obama's tactics, I agree that he needs to make the argument about social solidarity more forcefully than he is doing at the moment, but it is difficult to win over the middle classes when the real vested interests are, as ever, encouraging possessive individualism through the tactic of systematic misinformation to create a climate of fear and anxiety.
Gareth
Professor Gareth Williams
School of Social Sciences
Cardiff University
Glamorgan Building
King Edward VII Avenue
Cardiff CF10 3WT
Wales, UK
Tel: +44(0)29 2087 5500
Fax: +44(0)29 2087 4175
New from The Policy Press:
COMMUNITY HEALTH AND WELLBEING
Edited by Steve Cropper, Alison Porter, Gareth Williams, Sandra
Carlisle, Robert Moore, Martin O'Neill, Chris Roberts and Helen Snooks
For further details visit http://www.policypress.org.uk
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