---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The sewer system is a form of welfare…"
description: "\"“The sewer system is a form of welfare state. It’s a government funnel to the sea.”\" — Don DeLillo"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df5/don-delillo-294_politics_the-sewer-system-is-a-form-of-welfare-st_81335.jpg"
---

#  The sewer system is a form of welfare state. It’s a…

![“The sewer system is a form of welfare state. It’s a government funnel to the sea.” quote by Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df5/don-delillo-294_politics_the-sewer-system-is-a-form-of-welfare-st_81335.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df5/don-delillo-294_politics_the-sewer-system-is-a-form-of-welfare-st_81335.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df5/don-delillo-294_politics_the-sewer-system-is-a-form-of-welfare-st_81335.jpg)

> ““The sewer system is a form of welfare state. It’s a government funnel to the sea.””

[Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

It likens public sanitation infrastructure to a welfare mechanism that channels collective waste into the ocean, highlighting how government services manage societal byproducts.

**In simple terms:** Infrastructure as societal waste management

Key Takeaway

Public works act as collective waste conduits

Themes

public policy infrastructure environment government societal welfare

Mood

critical ironic reflective

Type

aphor social commentary

When to use this quote

- urban planning
- policy debates
- environmental activism
- public health discussions

Key Concepts

sewer systems state responsibility environmental impact

Practical Applications

- policy analysis
- civic education

Questions to Reflect On

- How does framing sewers as welfare change our view of public investment?
- What are the environmental implications of treating waste as a funnel to the sea?

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Welfare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/welfare/) [Welfare state](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/welfare-state/)

## Related quotes

> [The best form of welfare for the troops is first-rate training.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-rommel/the-best-form-of-welfare-for-the-troops-is-first-rate-training/)

[Erwin Rommel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-rommel/)

> [The welfare state corrupts family life. Even Democrats have acknowledged the destructive consequences of the welfare state on the underclass. It has rendered vast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/the-welfare-state-corrupts-family-life-even-democrats-have/)

[Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/)

> [Socialism is a fundamentally different social system where the world's resources are not controlled by a greedy, undemocratic oligarchy. This is not the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kshama-sawant/socialism-is-a-fundamentally-different-social-system-where-the-world/)

[Kshama Sawant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kshama-sawant/)

> [I believe that the Welfare State redistributes poverty and reduces income. As Karl Kraus once said of psychoanalysis, the Welfare State is the disease…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-kling/i-believe-that-the-welfare-state-redistributes-poverty-and-reduces/)

[Arnold Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-kling/)

> [As long as there's this welfare state of ours we're not going to have any good fighters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-farr/as-long-as-there-s-this-welfare-state-of-ours-we-re-not-going-to-have/)

Tommy Farr

> [To continue on the road we Americans have traveled for the past century is ultimately to deliver ourselves completely into the hands of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-higgs/to-continue-on-the-road-we-americans-have-traveled-for-the-past/)

[Robert Higgs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-higgs/)

> [I want to increase our spending on research and development by 25%. That's something the U.S. does very well. That dynamism alongside a welfare…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-luis-rodriguez-zapatero/i-want-to-increase-our-spending-on-research-and-development-by-25/)

[Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-luis-rodriguez-zapatero/)

> [“The United States, with the greatest ability and the weakest desire to finance a welfare state, winds up in the middle of the pack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-voegeli/the-united-states-with-the-greatest-ability-and-the-weakest-desire-to/)

William Voegeli

> [The black family survived centuries of slavery and generations of Jim Crow, but it has disintegrated in the wake of the liberals' expansion of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-black-family-survived-centuries-of-slavery-and-generations-of-jim/)

[Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/)

> [Citizens of liberal welfare states become increasingly narcissistic. The great preoccupations of vast numbers of Brits, Frenchmen, Germans and other Western Europeans are how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/citizens-of-liberal-welfare-states-become-increasingly-narcissistic/)

[Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/)

> [The cradle-to-grave welfare state diminishes individual initiative and can breed a pervasive sclerosis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-weisberg/the-cradle-to-grave-welfare-state-diminishes-individual-initiative/)

[Jacob Weisberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-weisberg/)

> [The welfare state is the oldest con game in the world. First you take people's money away quietly, and then you give some of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-welfare-state-is-the-oldest-con-game-in-the-world-first-you-take/)

[Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/)

> [The welfare state has done to Black Americans what slavery (and Jim Crow and racism) could not have done. . .break up the black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stossel/the-welfare-state-has-done-to-black-americans-what-slavery-and-jim/)

[John Stossel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stossel/)

> [The greatest danger to the liberal vision are facts about the consequences of liberalism itself and the laws, policies, and ways of life that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-greatest-danger-to-the-liberal-vision-are-facts-about-the/)

[Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/)

> [Nothing more guarantees the erosion of character than getting something for nothing. In the liberal welfare state, one develops an entitlement mentality. And the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/nothing-more-guarantees-the-erosion-of-character-than-getting/)

[Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/)

## More by Don DeLillo

> [“We all know how the thing we secretly fear is not a secret at all but the open and eternal thing that predicts its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/we-all-know-how-the-thing-we-secretly-fear-is-not-a-secret-at-all-but/)

[Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/)

> [Everything is barely weeks. Everything is days. We have minutes to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/everything-is-barely-weeks-everything-is-days-we-have-minutes-to-live/)

[Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/)

> [The novel is the dream release, the suspension of reality that history needs to escape its own brutal confinements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-novel-is-the-dream-release-the-suspension-of-reality-that-history/)

[Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/)

> [“As I listened I thought a featureless baggy man was striking me in slow motion with a well-polished stone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/as-i-listened-i-thought-a-featureless-baggy-man-was-striking-me-in/)

[Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/)

> [“Murray said, 'I don't trust anybody's nostalgia but my own. Nostalgia is a product of dissatisfaction and rage. It´s a settling of grievances between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/murray-said-i-don-t-trust-anybody-s-nostalgia-but-my-own-nostalgia-is/)

[Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/)

> [“She is beginning to think it is possible that all creation is a spurt of blank matter that chances to make an emerald planet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/she-is-beginning-to-think-it-is-possible-that-all-creation-is-a-spurt/)

[Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/)

> [“Those who have abandoned belief must still believe in us. They are sure that they are right not to believe but they know belief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/those-who-have-abandoned-belief-must-still-believe-in-us-they-are/)

[Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/)

> [“The plane had lost power in all three engines, dropped from thirty-four thousand feet to twelve thousand feet. Something like four miles. When the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-plane-had-lost-power-in-all-three-engines-dropped-from-thirty/)

[Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/)

> [“Grass: I live in a great steel tower that reflects the blazing sun. People catch fire just walking by. The more bodies that pile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/grass-i-live-in-a-great-steel-tower-that-reflects-the-blazing-sun/)

[Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/)

> [“What people discard could make a nation”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/what-people-discard-could-make-a-nation/)

[Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/)

> [“Marriage is something we make from available materials. In this sense it’s improvised, it’s almost offhand. Maybe this is why we know so little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/marriage-is-something-we-make-from-available-materials-in-this-sense/)

[Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/)

> [The true life is not reducible to words spoken or written, not by anyone, ever. The true life takes place when we're alone, thinking,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-true-life-is-not-reducible-to-words-spoken-or-written-not-by/)

[Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/)

> [I've come to think of Europe as a hardcover book, America as the paperback version.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/i-ve-come-to-think-of-europe-as-a-hardcover-book-america-as-the/)

[Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/)

> [There is a set of balances and rhythms to a novel that we can't experience in real life. So I think there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/there-is-a-set-of-balances-and-rhythms-to-a-novel-that-we-can-t/)

[Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/)

> [“There is no lie in war or preparation of war that can't be defended. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/there-is-no-lie-in-war-or-preparation-of-war-that-can-t-be-defended/)

[Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/)

[Explore all 699 Don DeLillo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/)

## More Politics quotes

> [Sentiment is the mightiest force in civilization; not sentimentality, but sentiment. Women will bring this into politics. Home, sweet home, is as powerful on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-ellen-foster/sentiment-is-the-mightiest-force-in-civilization-not-sentimentality/)

[Judith Ellen Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-ellen-foster/)

> [Crony capitalism is essentially a condition in which... public officials are giving favours to people in the private sector in payment of political favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/crony-capitalism-is-essentially-a-condition-in-which-public-officials/)

[Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/)

> [“Only careful political manoeuvring will be able to manage the situation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/davan-yahya-khalil/only-careful-political-manoeuvring-will-be-able-to-manage-the/)

Davan Yahya Khalil

> [We could form a government of national unity fighting corruption. The ordinary Afghan is sick and tired of it, because it's she or he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashraf-ghani/we-could-form-a-government-of-national-unity-fighting-corruption-the/)

[Ashraf Ghani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashraf-ghani/)

> [Politics is not an issue whether you like or dislike , but every citizen must involve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khem-veasna/politics-is-not-an-issue-whether-you-like-or-dislike-but-every/)

[Khem Veasna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khem-veasna/)

> [For the Scottish government, the practice of having meetings in different parts of the country is well established, but for the U.K. government, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-sturgeon/for-the-scottish-government-the-practice-of-having-meetings-in/)

[Nicola Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-sturgeon/)

> [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/)

[Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/)

> [Scepticism and cynicism about politics is so great that one of the best counters to it is what you can do at a local…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-miliband/scepticism-and-cynicism-about-politics-is-so-great-that-one-of-the/)

[Ed Miliband](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-miliband/)

> [Right now we're concerned about budget. Right now we're concerned about the prospect of interest rate rise. We're concerned about government corruption, government handing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amity-shlaes/right-now-we-re-concerned-about-budget-right-now-we-re-concerned/)

[Amity Shlaes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amity-shlaes/)

> [One of the worst things to come out of the Consumer Protection Board's misleading claims is the impression that government resources are to hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-lesko/one-of-the-worst-things-to-come-out-of-the-consumer-protection-board/)

[Matthew Lesko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-lesko/)

> [“Jim Reston: Walking through the crowds of air-kissing politicians, actors and high fliers, it was tough to tell where the politics stopped and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morgan/jim-reston-walking-through-the-crowds-of-air-kissing-politicians/)

[Peter Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morgan/)

> [We have to build our own power. We have to win every single political office we can, where we have a majority of black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/we-have-to-build-our-own-power-we-have-to-win-every-single-political/)

[Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/)

> [The notion of a non-religious Christmas is ridiculous. But so is the insistence on the part of Christians that politicians and retailers carry out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-campos-duffy/the-notion-of-a-non-religious-christmas-is-ridiculous-but-so-is-the/)

[Rachel Campos-Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-campos-duffy/)

> [A man who kills on his own is a murderer. A man who kills at his government's request is a national hero.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramman-kenoun/a-man-who-kills-on-his-own-is-a-murderer-a-man-who-kills-at-his/)

[Ramman Kenoun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramman-kenoun/)

> [Politics in Philadelphia is a contact sport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-nutter/politics-in-philadelphia-is-a-contact-sport/)

[Michael Nutter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-nutter/)

[Browse all 44,914 Politics quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“The sewer system is a form of welfare state. It’s a government funnel to the sea.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Don DeLillo"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-sewer-system-is-a-form-of-welfare-state-it-s-a-government-funnel/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Politics"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-sewer-system-is-a-form-of-welfare-state-it-s-a-government-funnel/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df5/don-delillo-294_politics_the-sewer-system-is-a-form-of-welfare-st_81335.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df5/don-delillo-294_politics_the-sewer-system-is-a-form-of-welfare-st_81335.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df5/don-delillo-294_politics_the-sewer-system-is-a-form-of-welfare-st_81335.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“The sewer system is a form of welfare state. It’s a government funnel to the sea.” — Don DeLillo",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Don DeLillo",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“The sewer system is a form...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-sewer-system-is-a-form-of-welfare-state-it-s-a-government-funnel/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-sewer-system-is-a-form-of-welfare-state-it-s-a-government-funnel/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
