The Welfare State was conceived as a cushion to protect those affected by disability, poverty and misfortune. It is not coincidental that it was introduced in the aftermath of World War II, as it became recognised that disability and illness as a result of the war effort were not necessarily anyone’s particular “fault”; and to compensate returning servicemen and women for disadvantage in the job market.
That compassionate understanding has been gradually eroded and lost as the old world of privilege and opinionated politics has reasserted itself. The wealthy have always punished the poor, justifying in harsh policies and political rhetoric the belief that poverty is punishment for fecklessness, feeble character or moral defectiveness. And so we see a move towards increasingly punitive and divisive assessments in terms of which its claimants are required to justify their claims – and highlight their suffering – rather than having their needs assessed objectively according to enlightened benchmarks that signal poverty or incapacity. The old-world view in which the rich punish the poor and reward themselves is being reasserted.
A retrogressive tax system is revealed. The bedroom tax is cruel and falls most sharply upon the poor and disabled; PIP introduces tests for mobility and personal care that are almost meaningless; and yet, our MP’s can claim the most exorbitant “expenses” and take umbrage when legitimate public scrutiny suggests their self-awarded compensation schemes are excessive or dishonest.
Different rules now apply in dishonesty. If you wish to be excused, make dishonesty glaring. If you want to get caught, filch fish fingers for the kids’ tea. Righteous indignation sounds loudest from those upstanding members of the establishment who themselves enjoy the most lavish privileges and exemptions. That was the state of play that Welfare reforms were intended to mitigate. Instead, we have a situation in which the most abject poverty is not only tolerated but, in a deliberate policy to divide and conquer, is now blamed on those who live in substandard housing and eke out a living on the minimum wage.
Please share:
March 3, 2014 @ 10:47 am
Have you heard this one: a banker, a Daily Mail reader and a benefit claimant, and a plate of twelve biscuits. The banker takes eleven and says to the Mail reader- “Watch out, he wants to take your biscuit”. Who would have thought we would need food banks? 6% of JSA claimants sanctioned in any one month!
March 3, 2014 @ 11:01 am
I thought America was bad with food stamps. Supposedly the best society to live in, and a world leader. Food stamps, food banks. No difference. I am sad the welfare state in the UK is shot. It was a good and thoughtful concept. I am also sad I will only get a state pension should I live to 125 or something like that.
We all look back to the past when life was ‘better’ but in many aspects, I think it was.
March 3, 2014 @ 12:03 pm
Live to be 125?? Good grief, that would be dire. Better to make a living independently any way we can. Thanks for your comment! xxx :-))
March 3, 2014 @ 12:13 pm
That is funny and very sad. Best not to dwell on the stats. ;-)) XXX
March 3, 2014 @ 5:36 pm
I think that the main problem right now is that the people in government have absolutely no idea what it is like to try and live an “ordinary” life. They don’t have to struggle to feed themselves, to pay for transport, they don’t wait in line for health care and they very often have contacts who can get their children into the schools of their choice. If you have grown up with a life of ease and privilege it is not possible to know what it is truly like to struggle. So, on the one hand it is possibly understandable however, it is not forgivable, they are there to govern FOR the people who voted them in. In addition years and years of failed management in many areas of public service have crippled the system – it is so very very sad because I honestly think that it is so broken that it won’t ever be fixed. – Sigh.
March 3, 2014 @ 7:32 pm
Dear DIane
Thanks so much for your comment. Please don’t get too downhearted about it, as I do believe, if enough of us care, things can change, and are changing all the time. It helps when we can re-frame the debate, though, so that money is not the only thing we talk about.
XXX :-))