The slogan “Give an man a fish…” fetishes notions of self-sufficiency and sustainable development practices in such a way to obscure the potential pitfalls and problematics of such an approach. China Scherz compares two, very different organisations operating in central Uganda . The first, Mercy House, is Franscian mission which follows an ethos of giving to the “needy” indiscriminately and providing for the direct needs of poor and orphaned children . The second, Hope Child adopts the fashionable ethos of “sustainable development” and places emphasis on providing trainings and workshops, and auditing and measuring outcomes . Hope child is popular with donors in the West because it satisfies their beliefs in the importance of empowerment, …show more content…
Indeed, the orthodoxy of “sustainability” and “detached” development comes into conflict with Ugandan values of ‘interdependence, philanthropy and spirituality’ . Katy Gardener suggests we need to get away from simplistic and unhelpful distinctions between and “Independent Northerners” and “Dependent Southerners” and realise we are all embedded in networks of dependent social relationships . Gardener asks us to imagine the outrage of the British public if they were declined basic services such as health care and education and told instead to “stop being dependent” and were instead offered workshops to empower them to be “self-sufficient”—British people are not so different to the Ugandan people. Gardener calls on us to explore the politics of provision and move away from simply arguing that dependency is or is not a bad thing . Shah suggests that now we have accepted that dependence is “fine” and that we all involved and live within dependent relations with others, that we need to move towards tracing the differences in dependence—different types of dependency will have different implications for poverty, inequality, politics, hierarchy and social relations …show more content…
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime" has both affected the course of development and ideas about welfare, and is also emblematic of the fear of dependency which has come to characterise welfare discourse and policy. The discussions here about assumptions of who and who is not a legitimate dependent, of the moral implications of dependency and of the ‘fetishisation’ of sustainability and self-sufficiency suggest that issues of welfare, need, poverty and independence are far more complicated, nuanced and variable than the self-evident development orthodoxy would suggest. It would appear, from the ethnographic material discussed in this essay, that most people seem to care more about whether they get fish and less about how they should get it. I argue that or focus should not be whether dependency is a negative or a positive, considering that dependency can be both enabling and disabling, and that we are all, in various ways, dependent on others for our well-being. Negative moral ideologies of dependency are relatively new and ideas about dependency are variable across time and space—through different historical and social contexts. When thinking about dependency and welfare, we need to look beyond ideological presumptions and preconceptions and give more consideration to how people see themselves and the social relationships and various dependencies which they are implicated
This mini-paper will discuss the social welfare system. The mini-paper includes a discussion of welfare Policy, residual and institutional approach, and what is Social Welfare and Social Security. Midgely, (2009), pointed out that social welfare systems deliver services that facilitate and empower our society, especially to those persons who require assistance in meeting their basic human needs. The goal of social welfare is to provide social services to citizens from diverse cultures, and examples include Medicare, Medicaid, and food benefits. Midgley,( 2009).
Linda Gordon's article is thoughtful, insightful and highly relevant. As governments slash poverty relief programs at all levels and as welfare-bashing reaches an all-time high, it is instructive to take a step back and look at how the current system developed.
When speaking about Welfare we try to avoid it, turning welfare into an unacceptable word. In the Article “One Nation On Welfare. Living Your Life On The Dole” by Michael Grunwald, his point is to not just only show but prove to the readers that the word Welfare is not unacceptable or to avoid it but embrace it and take advantage of it. After reading this essay Americans will see the true way of effectively understanding the word welfare, by absorbing his personal experiences, Facts and Statistics, and the repetition Grunwald conveys.
O?Beirne, Kate. ?The State of Welfare: An old and tricky question resurfaces.? National Review 54.2 (February 11, 2002): 1--2. Online. Information Access Expanded
In Peter Singer’s Famine, Affluence, and Morality, he critiques the way in which modern societies have grown accustomed to their ordinary thoughts about famine, affluence, and morality in general. Singer describes a situation in which nine million refugees from East Bengal are living in poverty, and it is the responsibility of the wealthy, and better-off nations to take immediate and long term action to provide for them and to end poverty overall. (Singer, 873) Through his essay, Singer envisions a new world where giving to those in need is no longer seen as charity, but rather a moral duty. He states that in the world we currently live in, it is seen as generous and partaking in a good deed when you donate money to charity, and no one is blamed for not (876). Singer proposes that excess money should be given to those in need, rather than spending it in “selfish and unnecessary” ways (876).
More than _____ people across the United States received some form of government funded welfare assistance during ___yr (cit). Government programs include, but are not limited to health services, economic assistance, food assistance, and shelter assistance. The focus and design of welfare assistance programs is with the intent of aiding individuals with their essential needs. Its purpose is not to benefit deceitful individuals seeking handouts. Posed with the question, “Should people on welfare be required to work?” the response from a small group of my closest friends was a unanimous “yes.” Although, this outcome was not shocking, the degree of anger and animosity that the inquiry provokes was very intriguing, as well as the reasons given.
The biggest complication with welfare is that way too many individuals have become dependent on the government, when the assistance should have only been temporary. A solution to reducing the amount of dependent families could be to reform housing benefits and social housing. The Government should look at ways to increase home ownership and reduce the work disincentives created by social housing (O’Brien). Discouragin...
Welfare programs are an important part of American society. Without any type of American welfare, people will starve, children will not receive the proper education, and people will not receive any medical help simply because they do not have the resources available to them. Each of the three aspects of the American welfare system are unique in their own ways because they are funded differently and the benefits are given to different people. While support for these welfare systems has declined in the more recent years, the support for it when it was created was strong.
The idea of a welfare state was created from a misguided desire to gain social equality. This created a society dependent on the government, but with encouragement of individualism this dependence will be removed. The ideological perspective of the author is neoconservative, which in the message the author is trying to suggest that individuals in a welfare state will become dependent on the government to provide them with programs and initiatives. The author believes a state should not be involved within the economy and should encourage individualism. This is shown when the author says “a culture dependency on the state has emerged” and “only in a state that promotes individualism will such dependency be eliminated”. This relates to liberalism because of how it promotes self interest and self reliance compared to collective well being, this is shown when the author says “ only in a state that promotes individualism will such dependency be eliminated”. Society should rather embrace and develop the idea of a welfare state, which can improve and become beneficial to the state.
Welfare can be defined as health, happiness, and good fortune; well-being; Prosperity; and Financial or other aid provided, especially by the government, to people in need (Merriam-Webster, 2014). It can be very beneficial to people in need of it. Tim Prenzler stated that, “Welfare systems are often seen as providing a ‘safety net’ that prevents citizens falling below a minimum standard of living (2012, p2). Everyone is able to use is if they are in need of it. People have successfully used welfare to get out of their slum, and started to support themselves. Others have decided to not try to get out of that slum, and live off that welfare. They decided that they didn’t have to try, and let the government support them. Welfare is a good tool for people to get back on their feet, but shouldn’t be that persons steady income.
...ican welfare system has many flaws and I have identified major problems and possible solutions/policy recommendations. We can’t completely dismiss government assistance because we are a land of the equality of all and should be proud to have services that help the less fortunate. However, we must identify people who misuse and people who become too comfortable. We can’t continue to fall deeper into debt by supporting people who are not making an effort to support themselves. Nonetheless, we should help and assist those who are constantly trying to become educated, skilled, and experienced enough to become self-sufficient. I will close with a quote from the article about welfare helping a lady survive while she was studying. Currently she has a degree and a job as a manager. “I had clear goals,” “I wasn’t raised to sit at home expecting a check to come in the mail.”
The overriding challenge Uganda faces today is the curse of poverty. Poverty, ‘the lack of something”(“Poverty.”), something can be materials, knowledge, or anything one justifies as necessary to living. Associated with poverty is the question of what causes poverty and how to stop poverty? The poverty rate in Uganda has declined from the year 2002 from the year 2009, which shows the percent of residents living in poverty has decreasing. Yet, the year is 2014 and the poverty rate could have drastically changed over the course of five years. One could assume the poverty rate would continue to decrease, which would be astounding and beneficial, but does poverty ever decrease enough to an acceptable level or even nonexistence? Poverty is a complex issue that continues to puzzle people from all across the globe. Poverty could possible be a question that is never truly answered.
Social welfare dates back almost 50 years, but through those years the real question is, what is social welfare? The interesting part of social welfare is that one persons definition or belief may be different from another’s belief. The truth is, not one person is right about the definition or ideology of social welfare. Social welfare programs have grown, shrunk, stabilized, and declined over the years, and today many believe that we are in a period of decline. The text “Ideology and Social Welfare” states that there are four different views to social welfare, all having their unique attributes. Personally, my view is a combination of the reluctant collectivists, the anti-collectivist, and the Fabian socialists view. I strongly believe that government intervention is necessary in order to control and regulate social welfare while keeping ethics in mind, but at the same time, it is not necessary for everyone. People have the ability to change their lives for the better with hard work and dedication. My opinion is just one of the hundreds that exist today, but as proven throughout history, not one person is necessarily right. The three approaches towards social welfare, the reluctant collectivist approach, the Fabian socialist approach, and the anti-collectivist approach, encompass critical points on social welfare and what can be done to avoid inequality.
In most cases, shortage of money is not the sole problem. Rather, poverty is a mere term summarised by a sophisticated factors of corruption, lack of infrastructure, civil unrest, government failure, and many more. Especially, donated money are regularly spent to run campaigns, provide wages to staffs, and to run the charities, with a very few of the amount being invested directly to help the poor. This socio-political scepticism can be worse as some believe that charity is merely a band aid fix to the deeper underlying problem that is continuously causing the poverty, and it only becomes the basis for local communities to be dependent on
Sociology focuses on the structure and organization of a society and how this correlates to social problems and individuals. The sociological thoughts on poverty have revolved around the importance of social structures and individual agency when explaining the prevalence of poverty over the years. In many accounts, specifically political ones and academic studies, the emphasis was put on the ‘undeserving poor’, which outlined individual behaviours and apparent moral failings as key causes of poverty. Most recently, there has been arguments on whether welfare system is responsible for encouraging and supporting claimants into welfare dependency. Another idea was brought around troubled families or families who have never worked as key explanations for poverty. Sociologists have used empirical evidence to challenge individual and sociological explanations for poverty (Sociological perspectives on poverty). They emphasize the importance of the broader context and the different opportunities open