THE collision of language with realityto tell it like it isforms the basic of the journalist's art, and occasionally reality imposes new meanings on old words. Such is the case with this week's major study of the welfare system: dictionaries define welfare as a state of happiness and prosperity, of general wellbeing; yet to Americans, whether they are welfare recipients or not, the word has come to mean just the opposite.
More than a month ago, TIME correspondents began exploring that reality, talking with Government officials, caseworkers, the men, women and children who receive...
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