TASK FORCE OX URBAN7 AFFAIRS 883

thus the misdirection of remedial action. " Although there is general
agreement on the evidence of urban crisis — blight, poverty, crime,
pollution, traffic congestion — Wilson correctly cites that "slums and
bums and cars are not the cause of the problems, they are the symp-
toms, and if we tear them clown or clear them out or ban them from
one place, they will inevitably reappear somewhere else. "

Ultimate resolution of urban problems, genuine urban renewal,
rather than just relocation of trouble, depends on accurate analysis
of the problems' source and adequate action to terminate basic
causes. What lies at the heart of the urban crisis?

Essentially, the answer is the abrasive impaction of the less affluent,
caused by two flows of population: the exodus of the educated, em-
ployed and economically well-off families to the suburbs, and the
migration of the uneducated, unemployed and impoverished to the
cities. Tax producers are constantly being exchanged for revenue
consumers. As assessable wealth decreases, the multitude of secon-
dary problems (poverty, blight, traffic congestion, crime) increases.
Government, recognizing these problems, has launched programs de-
signed to combat the secondary effects while the primary cause con-
tinues unchecked.

Until we act directly to stabilize and then selectively reduce the
population density of our cities, all fancy, expensive social program-
ming is no more than an exercise in futility. We have been operating
under a fallacious premise and, in the vernacular of the day, spinning
our wheels. If, in our highly mobilized society, the pattern of subur-
ban exodus, rural migration cannot be altogether stopped, it can be
controlled and directed.

Two bold concepts — dramatic departures from present practices —
could provide the solution. First is the transfer of all welfare respon-
sibilities to the Federal government. The machinery and the example
to administer such a program already exist in the National Social
Security Administration. With Federal controls establishing uniform
standards and benefits which will extend from Watts to Harlem —
from the Mississippi Delta to Detroit — the flow of untrained, un-
employed and impoverished will be immeasurably reduced and pos-
sibly reversed.

An immediate criticism to national standardized welfare payments
arises from the varying costs of living in different sections of the
country. Admittedly, a dollar buys more in Arkansas than in New
York. But standardized social security payments are universally ac-