Whatever his faults, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has understood that the welfare state needed reform. It could not continue in its one-size-fits-all implementation. So in his last speech to the Labour Party conference he spent a lot of time trying to move his party towards a consumer- not a producer-powered society.
In an opportunity society, as opposed to the old welfare state, government does not dictate; it empowers.
It makes the individual - patient, parent, law-abiding citizen, job-seeker - the driver of the system, not the state.
But of course it is exactly that principle that the rank and file of the Labour Party in Britain and the Democratic Party in the US contest. The hate it as “privatization.” So when Blair continues that the opportunity society
sets free the huge talent of our public servants and social entrepreneurs whose ability is often thwarted by outdated rules and government bureaucracy.
We all clear our throats. Because after insisting that consumers—patients, parents—should rule, he then proposes to “set free” the government bureaucrats. Can’t be done, old chap. “Outdated rules” are the things you need to control people when they are spending Other Peoples’ Money.
But Blair sets up the challenge of the next century. In the last century we created the vast producer-powered welfare state in which politicians, bureaucrats, and special interests have amassed enormous power to provide us with social benefits that they control.
How do you get from this producer cartel with its subsidies, its powers, and its queues to a consumer choice system?
Because every step along the way will take power or sinecure away from some politician, some bureaucrat, or some special interest.
At least Tony Blair has made a start.
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