It has become nearly axiomatic in this country to
argue that everything would be better 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. The Bush administration proposes to allow contributors to invest a
portion of their public Social Security pensions in the stock market. What a coup
that would be for the WD-40 contingent.