Accessibility of the welfare system can be somewhat of a problem for some people. The welfare system is not available in every country in the world and is available mainly in higher developed countries. The poor people that need the welfare system the most are usually the ones that never get the help that they deserve. However the welfare system cannot just hand out welfare to everyone on the street, it is not economically possible to do so. Take for example the new health care bill for the U.S. it is a nice idea for everyone to get health care, but it is not a smart decision for the U.S. in the fact that the country cannot afford to give everyone health care. (I read an article on this and cannot find the exact one, however google works just fine to make my point). This makes the people who have health care suffer and also harms the whole country in general since we are putting ourselves into a situation that we cannot afford financially. It is the same basic principal with the world. It is a nice idea for everyone to have health care and get money to help survive, but it isn’t possible for the world to do at this time. There is too much abuse in the system for the welfare state to work the way it should. If the welfare system was used properly then people who actually need to be on welfare could potentially get the help they deserve. But as long as people all over the world keep abusing the welfare system it will be hard to help the people that really need the help.
The biggest critique to the welfare state is that it doesn’t really help the poor. It is also a problem to the whole country that issues the welfare system. To keep the welfare system going citizens of the countries need to pay high taxes for others to benefit from it. This harms the middle class people that are just trying to get by and doesn’t affect the high class people as much since they have all the money they need. This leaves the poor to fight for the chance to receive welfare.
Many of the people who would be eligible for welfare don’t even know where to go or where to look for welfare. If they do it isn’t a guarantee that they will even be approved for financial help. There are application processes in which you have to prove that you need the welfare. The applications are a good thing though. They could use some work. The applications make it to where people can tell white lies on the application to get the money they need and then once they receive the money they go drive off down the road in their nice sports cars. If the application process was better then the system might actually be able to help those that need it. The system also needs to make it aware for poor people of where they can find the help they need, they can’t get help if it isn’t accessible for them to get. Accessibility is the key to successful welfare state.
The poor countries don’t have money so they can’t afford to have a welfare system to help the poor citizens of their country. The more developed countries have more money to help, but mainly use the taxpayer’s money to pay for it. This helps the poor to some degree, but also makes the middle class people (the ones that are affected most by taxes) hurt the most and lowers their financial income to live off of. This is a cruel process that just goes round and round. I think the welfare system is a good idea, but it has some things that need to be fixed to make it work better. I believe the biggest problem is going to be fixing the application process so that it is harder for people to tell their white lies and get money that others deserve. Until then the poor of the world will keep having the problem of accessibility to the welfare state that they deserve.
More information can be found at these sites:
http://intqhc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/14/2/87
http://tutor2u.net/sociology/poverty-politics-welfare-state.html
Click HERE
Friday, April 16, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Resources for the Welfare State
These resources talk about the welfare state and race in a global situation. It is a collection of websites that talk about the welfare state in general, who it helps, its history, and even the specifics about the U.S. and the welfare state.
http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/publicpolicy/introduction/wstate.htm
This is a good website because it gives a general over view of the history of the welfare system and relates race and other issues to it as well.
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/ag27/english
This website explains how Americans view race and welfare compared to how Europeans view race and welfare.
http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/publicpolicy/introduction/equality.htm
This site has to do with equality in the welfare system. It has some general facts of how to deal with equality in the welfare state.
http://www.global-economic-symposium.org/solutions/the-global-polity/globalization-and-the-welfare-state/strategyperspectivefolder/points-about-globalization-and-the-welfare-state
This website talks about some of the problems that arise with welfare in globalization.
http://www.globalissues.org/article/3/structural-adjustment-a-major-cause-of-poverty
This particular website talks about the problems that poverty and welfare have and their connections. It gives quite a few major details about how the system works with poverty.
http://www.redpepper.org.uk/Global-welfare
This is one mans opinion on how the corporations that run the world can help pay for global welfare.
http://www.welfareinfo.org/
This gives a look at the welfare state in the U.S. and gives other sites to look at and what to expect from the welfare system.
http://mises.org/daily/2225
The origins of the welfare system in America are discussed to some degree in this website.
http://www.urbanhabitat.org/node/858
This site talks about racism in the American welfare state.
http://www.cato.org/testimony/ct-wc67.html
The site talks about how the welfare state contributes to the rate of crime in children and in adults.
http://www.heartland.org/policybot/results/19607/Welfare_Is_the_Real_Problem_Not_Immigration.html
This website talks about how immigration affects the welfare state. The main point of the article is that immigration is not the problem of the welfare state.
http://www.independent.org/issues/article.asp?id=1505
This website talks about how immigration is needed to help keep the welfare state in check
http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/publicpolicy/introduction/welfsocf.htm
This particular website talks about how the welfare state is affected by different types of people. It talks about everything from single parents, to race, to class, and gender and does so in a general way.
http://www.fff.org/comment/com0509a.asp
This talks about the welfare state and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. It says that the welfare state was a scam and didn’t pull through.
http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/does-welfare-diminish-poverty/
This website asks the big question that everyone wants to know the answer to: Does the welfare state really help to get rid of poverty?
Click HERE
http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/publicpolicy/introduction/wstate.htm
This is a good website because it gives a general over view of the history of the welfare system and relates race and other issues to it as well.
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/ag27/english
This website explains how Americans view race and welfare compared to how Europeans view race and welfare.
http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/publicpolicy/introduction/equality.htm
This site has to do with equality in the welfare system. It has some general facts of how to deal with equality in the welfare state.
http://www.global-economic-symposium.org/solutions/the-global-polity/globalization-and-the-welfare-state/strategyperspectivefolder/points-about-globalization-and-the-welfare-state
This website talks about some of the problems that arise with welfare in globalization.
http://www.globalissues.org/article/3/structural-adjustment-a-major-cause-of-poverty
This particular website talks about the problems that poverty and welfare have and their connections. It gives quite a few major details about how the system works with poverty.
http://www.redpepper.org.uk/Global-welfare
This is one mans opinion on how the corporations that run the world can help pay for global welfare.
http://www.welfareinfo.org/
This gives a look at the welfare state in the U.S. and gives other sites to look at and what to expect from the welfare system.
http://mises.org/daily/2225
The origins of the welfare system in America are discussed to some degree in this website.
http://www.urbanhabitat.org/node/858
This site talks about racism in the American welfare state.
http://www.cato.org/testimony/ct-wc67.html
The site talks about how the welfare state contributes to the rate of crime in children and in adults.
http://www.heartland.org/policybot/results/19607/Welfare_Is_the_Real_Problem_Not_Immigration.html
This website talks about how immigration affects the welfare state. The main point of the article is that immigration is not the problem of the welfare state.
http://www.independent.org/issues/article.asp?id=1505
This website talks about how immigration is needed to help keep the welfare state in check
http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/publicpolicy/introduction/welfsocf.htm
This particular website talks about how the welfare state is affected by different types of people. It talks about everything from single parents, to race, to class, and gender and does so in a general way.
http://www.fff.org/comment/com0509a.asp
This talks about the welfare state and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. It says that the welfare state was a scam and didn’t pull through.
http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/does-welfare-diminish-poverty/
This website asks the big question that everyone wants to know the answer to: Does the welfare state really help to get rid of poverty?
Click HERE
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Equality in the Welfare State
Is the welfare state really equal? I'm not just talking about race. Equality is more then just racial equality; it is also gender and social equality as well. Equality has to deal with the certain rights that everyone has and deserves to have, if any one person is denied the right to have a certain privilege then it is a lack of equality. Although there are many racial inequalities in the welfare system social status and gender play into the inequalities as well.
The social status of a person is going to play a huge effect on whether or not they receive welfare or not. If a person is of a higher social class then they shouldn’t be on welfare, however it doesn’t always work out that way. It is generally the poor that are on welfare. The system is made for the poor to get out of their unfortunate money crisis. The main stereotype is that it is generally big families of another race that are on welfare (and not necessarily when they need to be on it either).
Gender also plays a major role in the welfare state. While both men and women are on welfare it is generally only the women that you hear about on the welfare system. This is generally because of the fact that the mother is the one that takes care of the children in the event of a divorce, death, etc. Another issue that plays into the inequality of gender is that it is statistically proven that men make more money then women do. All of society has the mindset that men are above women in basically everything. This already gives a negative image for women to work on while also taking care of their family and trying to survive with little money. It is easier for society to depict women on welfare then it is for men to be seen as “weak” and on welfare.
As for the race category we have talked about this quite a few times in class. It is generally people of color (or at least that’s the stereotype) that are on welfare. Not only is it persons of color, but more specifically women of color. People of color are usually seen as being of a lower status since there are so many third world countries that are in severe poverty. Third world countries are mainly made up of people of color with very few whites involved. This automatically gives the impression that people of color make up the majority of people on welfare.
It is hard to talk about any of these inequalities without involving another inequality. In other words race, social status, and gender go hand in hand. The real issue is how do we solve the problem of inequality in a world where inequality has always been a problem? I would say it is pretty much impossible. There will always be inequalities and people that are unhappy with the way the system is run. What we can do is just try to stop thinking the way society wants us to think. If we stop using the stereotypes and acknowledging them then it may eventually lessen. The welfare system was made to help the people in need. It doesn’t matter what a person’s race, social class, or gender is; what matters is if they are in real need of getting help. That’s what the focus should be on.
More information can be found at
http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/publicpolicy/introduction/equality.htm
Click HERE
The social status of a person is going to play a huge effect on whether or not they receive welfare or not. If a person is of a higher social class then they shouldn’t be on welfare, however it doesn’t always work out that way. It is generally the poor that are on welfare. The system is made for the poor to get out of their unfortunate money crisis. The main stereotype is that it is generally big families of another race that are on welfare (and not necessarily when they need to be on it either).
Gender also plays a major role in the welfare state. While both men and women are on welfare it is generally only the women that you hear about on the welfare system. This is generally because of the fact that the mother is the one that takes care of the children in the event of a divorce, death, etc. Another issue that plays into the inequality of gender is that it is statistically proven that men make more money then women do. All of society has the mindset that men are above women in basically everything. This already gives a negative image for women to work on while also taking care of their family and trying to survive with little money. It is easier for society to depict women on welfare then it is for men to be seen as “weak” and on welfare.
As for the race category we have talked about this quite a few times in class. It is generally people of color (or at least that’s the stereotype) that are on welfare. Not only is it persons of color, but more specifically women of color. People of color are usually seen as being of a lower status since there are so many third world countries that are in severe poverty. Third world countries are mainly made up of people of color with very few whites involved. This automatically gives the impression that people of color make up the majority of people on welfare.
It is hard to talk about any of these inequalities without involving another inequality. In other words race, social status, and gender go hand in hand. The real issue is how do we solve the problem of inequality in a world where inequality has always been a problem? I would say it is pretty much impossible. There will always be inequalities and people that are unhappy with the way the system is run. What we can do is just try to stop thinking the way society wants us to think. If we stop using the stereotypes and acknowledging them then it may eventually lessen. The welfare system was made to help the people in need. It doesn’t matter what a person’s race, social class, or gender is; what matters is if they are in real need of getting help. That’s what the focus should be on.
More information can be found at
http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/publicpolicy/introduction/equality.htm
Click HERE
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