2007, Pp. 308-13 in David Canon, John Coleman and Kenneth Mayer (Eds.), Faultlines: Debating the Issues in American Politics, W.W. Norton.
It has become nearly axiomatic in this country to argue that everything would be better off if it were run like a business. In response, government has shifted its mission: if it used to operate like Super Glue, bonding Americans to one another, it is now working more like WD-40, minimizing friction in the pursuit of individual (and corporate) profit. Social Security is not only the largest government program, but the embodiment of the Super Glue approach to politics: the ultimate test case for privatization.