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For the past twenty-five years the apostles of the welfare state, some Republicans, some Democrat, have been busy transforming that stern old gentleman with the top hat, the cutaway coat, the red, white, and blue trousers, from a symbol of dignity and freedom and justice for all men, into a national wet nurse, dispensing a cockeyed kind of patent medcine labeled 'something for nothing,' passing out the soothing syrup and rattles and pacifiers for grateful votes on election day.

Barry Goldwater#18

PoliticsSymbolismSymbolsWelfare

About this quote

What does it mean?
Goldwater argues that political parties turned the symbol of Uncle Sam into a provider of handouts.
In plain terms
Politicians turned Uncle Sam into a nurse giving free things.
What can you take from it?
Symbolic imagery can shift from freedom to dependency.

Where it applies

  • election campaigns
  • political rhetoric
  • policy critique

Putting it to work

  • critiquing parties
  • analyzing symbols
  • mobilizing voters

Questions to consider

  • How do symbols shape policy?
  • Is dependency a fair critique?

Another view

The metaphor simplifies complex social safety net programs.

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