The welfare state can also be seen as a response to the needs of advanced capitalism and particularly to the fact that the private sector, on its own, is unable to ensure the reproduction of all the conditions of production, including the following: an ideologically non-hostile labour force able and willing to work without having to provide for its own health care and future pension needs out of wages; an efficient transport and educational infrastructure; and the provision of essential supplies, such as gas and electricity, at reasonable low costs. Thus the welfare state, while it improves the standard of life of the workforce, simultaneously stabilises the capitalist system from an economic, social and political point of view. Herein lies the inescapable dilemma which has faced the socialist movement ever since its origins: does the success obtained in forcing capitalism to reform itself and improve the condition of the population also stablise and legitimise capitalism itself? Do short-term achievements undermine the grounds for the eventual overthrow of the system?