ABSTRACT
Democrats, with the most radical edge coming from Bernie Sanders, have endorsed raising the minimum wage, government investment to stimulate job growth, and higher taxes on the wealthy in a revamped welfare state. The commitment to the work ethic served as an impediment to the construction of a welfare state in early America, as the responsibility for one's living was expected to derive from one's ability to work. In addition to transforming welfare into workfare, the entirety of the welfare system, at both a federal and state level, has come under attack in recent years leading to a thinning of the social safety net. The purpose of designing welfare programs to be means-tested and offer the bare minimum needed for survival was to scare laborers into staying employed and discipline welfare recipients to seek employment. The necessity for individuals to earn a living through employment stands in stark contrast to the twenty-first century reality of precarious jobs and automated labor.
