Spacemen, Welfare Cadillacs, and The Man in Black: The 1960s Guaranteed Income Debates in US Popular Culture

Author: Sarah Lindner

Field of Study: History

Program Affiliation: Source Project Research Program

Faculty Mentors: Will Glovinsky

Easel: 101

Timeslot: Morning

Abstract: In the 1960s and 70s, the US underwent what Brian Steensland describes as a “failed welfare revolution”; rising concerns about poverty, inequality, and civil rights led to a series of transformative but ultimately unsuccessful proposals for a guaranteed income. While scholars have analyzed the policy and economic debates that led to this failure, scant attention has been paid to the potential impacts of popular culture on public views of welfare during the era. This project turns to music, specifically folk and country music by Johnny Cash and Guy Drake, that deals with conflicting ideas of welfare and work. Additionally, it will connect short stories by writers such as Mack Reynolds to the aforementioned music to take a closer look at the reservations people held in respect to guaranteed income. This project argues that popular representations of welfare played a significant role in shaping public discourse on the failed welfare revolution.