Best Model For The Welfare State Politics Essay

Best Model For The Welfare State Politics Essay A welfare state engages the responsibility of a state to secure the basic modicum of welfare to its citizens. It seeks to know whether social policies are liberatory and help in legitimization or help in the market process (Castles Pierson, 2007). In a welfare state, the government plays a big role in protecting and promoting the economic and social well-beings of the citizens. It believes in the social equity and justice in that there is equality of opportunity, wealth allocation is equivalent, and the people are philanthropic in that they help the less fortunate. In a welfare state, there is democracy, welfare and they practice capitalism. The Western Europe and the United States have been examples of welfare state models. The welfare state created by conservatives and opposed by socialist and labour unions has been of continuous debates on whether it is beneficial. There was the German welfare state, the British welfare state, the French welfare state and the modern Europe (Kenne tt, 2004). The United States followed suit and joined the western countries in instituting social welfare policies. The models dealt with mainly poverty relief but the modern models are universal in that they tend to concentrate on all citizens. Firstly, this paper is going to introduce the best welfare state model which seems as Social democratic model. Lastly, the reader should be able to know and explain the best regime by the end of the study. According to Esping -Anderson (1990), welfare regimes refer to bunches welfare states in terms of their level and quality of social rights and bases of stratification on which the welfare state is built. As Esping-Anderson acknowledged, the importance of the three welfare state models in Europe and America which were social democratic, corporatist and liberal (Castles Pierson, 2007). The social democratic welfare state believes in universalism in which all citizens are entitled to access the benefits. They believe in politics against the market. Examples of such states are Norway, Sweden and Finland. The corporatist welfare states believe in subsidiaries in which they offer insurance schemes. Examples of the states are Germany and Austria. The liberal states believe in market dominance and private investment in which the government helps only the poor and can provide for basic needs. The forces of supply and demand set the price of goods and services. They are the UK and the United States. All welfare states use either one of the models but to varying, extend. In the social democratic state, the criteria of citizenship are pervasive. The liberal welfare state is characterized by a stronger emphasis on means tested programs. In a social democratic state, individuals should be free and equal in the determination of the conditions of their own lives in that they should enjoy equal rights and equal obligations (Mookherjee, 2010). Rights to political participation should be distributed equally among citizens to provide them with an equal share of opportunities to act in public life. The democracy peace theory argues that citizens in a liberal democratic state are peaceful and liberal democracies have never engaged in war. Social democratic model puts more emphases on universalism, comprehensive risk coverage, generous benefit levels and egalitarianism. The state controls the economic and social policies. The state provides social services to its citizens and cares for the elderly and children. There is a high level of employment for women and people with disabilities. It heavily relies on the government provision to meet social needs and believes ion full employment as part of the welfare state. It is active and in the generation and maintenance. The social democratic model varies with others in terms of how it accords to the state, the market and family. While the corporatist model relies on social insurance and generous transfers to keep people well fed, social democratic welfare states provide a variety of social services and utilized the labour force to the best (Huber Stephens, 2001). Both of them are concerned with getting people out of poverty and are highly redistributive. The essential characteristic of the social democratic welfare is that they are comprehensive and inclusive, Universalist, redistributive, gender egalitarian and labour mobilizing. People can be able to apply their talents in generating more revenue or wealth for their nation. Profit margins are much more less than the other types, which leads social justice among the community (Glyn, 2001). The social democratic commitment to solidarity and equality gave rise to the universalistic and redistributive aspects of the welfare state. It advocates for citizenship criterion, which offer a basic, equal benefit to all irrespective of earnings, contributions or perfo rmance. This makes it better than the liberal model were one contribution to the insurance scheme determines his health care. In this model, citizenship is the membership in society and the rights. The gender is equal as far as obligations are concerned. The models views capitalist entrepreneurs as people much after achievement of self-interest. This tends to slow down the pace unto which capitalism is to be spread. Capitalism does not use the labor of undisciplined and neither can it make use of unscrupulous businessperson. However, there are those who can do anything to get wealthy as it the case of a Dutch sea captain. It therefore depicts that since capitalism is as old as human history there are those who are ruthless, may get involved into war and piracy to achieve wealth (Kennett, 2004). The redistributive model in the social democratic welfare believes that the market economy is successful in producing wealth. Unlike in capitalistic liberals where the wealth is unequally distributed, in this model there is equity for all irrespective of their social status. It does not advocate for health insurance as the liberal markets do. This is because it believes state health insurance schemes are able to achieve better results. The limitation is that opponents protest that the state should not engage in economic interventions. Gini coefficient measures the degree of income inequality. The coefficient varies between zero indicating equality and one hundred indicating inequality (Arnold, 2008). This means that in many capitalistic countries one person has all the income while others have none.. Inequality exists because people do not receive the same labour income, asset income and do not pay the same taxes. As CIA (2005) reported the coefficient was 45 in the US which is liberal state and 27 in corporatist country, Germany. The least coefficient was in Sweden, 23 which is social democratic country. In the social welfare state which advocates for equality most of the assets are owned by the state and it somehow controls wealth. Capitalism has a tendency of causing instability especially in cases of financial crisis. The claims for capitalism differ from the classical case for a competitive market. Some theorists such as Adam Smith had argued that presence of many buyers and sellers competing with one another in the marketplace would cause wasteful resource allocations. Capitalism has been associated with innovations and many economists argue that capitalism has to generate endogenous innovations. Joseph Schumpeter argues that innovations are normally a creation of business people and they are rules embodied in the new firms. The agents of change are the entrepreneurs who come up with new ideas and invest to generate profits. Limitations of social welfare states The social welfare states have some limitations. In a state where there is equality, the tax burden will be high to meet the expectations of the citizens. But it does not seem as a problem for the people of social democratic counties as labour market and taxation are balanced (Arts and Gelissen, 2002). Most welfare states are bureaucratic in that the citizens do not have much freedom since everything is being controlled by the state but the state to offer the best quality of services (ibid). It is expensive to run a social welfare state since the government can be forced to borrow to meet the demands of the people. However, the governments use that money in order to cover the socio-economic gap between poor and rich (Castles et al, 2010). Government interventions kill businesses since they dont allow for the prices to be set by demand and supply forces but the government controls the prices. But it gives stronger role in managing welfare (Ferragina Seeleib, 2011) Conclusion Although many capitalists will not agree with the conclusion is good hen a country is a social democrat than a capital democrat. The benefits of the social democratic welfares which believes in universalism is best compared to capitalist in which wealth lies in the hands of the few at the expense of others. The equal distribution of wealth and state ownership of assets as adjudicated by the Soviet Union in my opinion was the best. Though this will have been a topic of debate, forces of demand and supply should determine the prices of goods and services. This might lead to a monopolistic culture, which victimizes consumers. The social democratic welfare state believes in universalism in which all citizens are entitled to access the benefits. They believe in politics against the market. The paper concludes that it borrow some characteristics from Christian democratic state welfare, which will make this model a superb one. Countries using the two models have been economically equal unli ke countries like the United States where the gap between the rich and the poor is very wide.

Creative Writing – Life in the City

The day in the city is starting: Claustrophobia. Frustration. Overcrowded. Crushing. Swarming. Cacophonous. Obstreperous. Clamorous. Vociferous. The gloomy grey sky, with its heavy nimbostratus clouds, blocking all of the sun's rays from reaching the Earth. The smoke from the industrial factories polluting the atmosphere and smelling like a failed chemical experiment. The fridge-like coldness of the winter air freezing your face. Claustrophobia on the streets; commuters, shooting menacing glares at each other, attempt to rush to work. They fight their way past each other, determined to do anything they can to get to their destination. One businessman, dressed in a shirt and tie and clutching a black leather briefcase, is shoved back as the current of the swarm of people against him is too strong. The towering skyscrapers looking down at the strugglers in battle. Across the road, the unpleasant cacophony of cars blaring their horns is heard above everything else. Frustrated drivers, already late for work, bellowing at the ever-changing traffic lights and wide lorries blocking half of the road. The overpowering skyscrapers watch over the events; their roofs almost brushing the heavens. Hectic life in the city goes on and on, and feels as though it will never end, that the commuters will never stop fighting their way into work, that the car drivers will never stop cursing at the traffic, that the city will never be empty†¦ †¦Night time in the city. Empty. Deserted. Silent. In the charcoal black sky, the effulgent crescent moon, the glistening stars forming illuminating constellations, the flickering lights of a plane that glides through a sky like a hawk. Descending to the Earth, we observe the city in its now desolate state. Looking through a dimly lit, litter strewn alley, a homeless man crouches defensively, ready to go to sleep for the night. His scruffy, short, light brown hair covered with a worn out, chequered hat. His torn, tatty shirt and his trousers covered with holes both sizes too small for him. A few meters away, a rat scuttles over to the litter, scavenging around for food. Turning into the car park, we see that the once overflowing place full of resting vehicles of every size and shape, now contains nothing but the dormant parking meter that patrols the area. Standing on one leg and lining up in a straight row like soldiers, the street lights provide the only source of illumination, their one eye emitting a golden beam of shining light down on the dusty, cracked pavement below. Through the city park, the sea of trees is seen swaying gently in the whispering wind. Rippling reflections of the stars are shown in the peaceful pond. The vastest tree of the park comes into view with its narrow finger-like branches reaching skywards and brushing the heavens; its gnarled bark and broad trunk radiating infinite wisdom. The silent, harmonious noises of the city now amplified. The ticking of the clock tower, the rustle of the autumn leaves being softly blown down the road by the wind, the high pitched creaking of the iron gates to the car park. Soon the silent, tranquil city will be once again transformed into the blaring, claustrophobic city, and life in the city will start again.

The Boy at the Window

The Boy at the Window is a poignant poem written by Richard Wilber. According to a statement made by Wilber, it was inspired by his five year old son being concerned about the possible danger his newly completed snowman was in due to a pending storm. Poetry is often recognized for its ability to evoke strong feelings in the reader and the beautifully innocent nature of Boy at the Window exemplifies this magnificently with skillful use of personification and beautiful use of metaphors. The story starts with painting a bleak and very serious over tone, seemingly from the overly dramatic perspective of a young boy as told by an omniscient outside perspective. The dire aspect of the snowman’s situation being a wholly terrifying experience to him, as seen in lines three and four of the first stanza, â€Å"The small boy weeps to hear the wind prepare/ A night of gnashings and enormous moan. † It is apparent that, to this boy, this is a huge menacing storm blowing in and threatening his snowman. It is further defined in the use of personification to describe the prediction of the storms violence, gnashing and moaning, both human qualities with tendencies of use in both pain and anger. Gnashing specifically paints an intense image of something being grinded between two forces until destroyed is extremely impacting. The line following in the poem is a description of the snowman’s facial aspects as seen by this young man, showing a desperation and betrayal as compared to the biblical story of a God- forsaken Adam looking into Eden for the last time. It adds a touching depth to the fear that this young man is in grips of and it is representative of the emotional transfer to the snowman in a young boys mind. The second stanza is written from the snowman’s perspective, which as a statement in its self shows personification. I find that the fact that the snowman experiences feelings in a very heartfelt way, showing a warmth of humanity and empathy. These traits come into a clear light in the 13 and 14th lines of the poem: He melts enough to drop from one soft eye/a trickle of the purest rain, a tear. This shows the depth of humanity portrayed in the snow man and the tasteful use of it within the story. The writing in the poem is elegant and beautiful, using a rhyme scheme and the occasional assonance to keep the flow while not maintaining a strict adherence to a set pattern, throughout the poem there are moments of striking imagery and powerful emotionally gripping perspectives which adds to the innocence of the child’s perspective and the humanity shown in the snowman; it is, in short, great writing. Great poetry is able to evoke strong feelings in the reader, making them think beyond the words on a page and take the images painted with the writers craft into their imagination and heart. The book says, â€Å"it is more accurate to say that poetry is an evocative response to ordinary life experience (Clungston, 2010)†. I think watching empathy grow in a child’s eyes and the personification of a snowman combine to paints a beautiful picture of the innocence of youth and the amazing experiences of watching someone slowly mature and grow before your very eyes. Reference Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into literature. San Diego, California: Bridgepoint Education,Inc retrieved XX/XX/XXfrom https://content. ashford. edu/books/AUENG125. 10. 2/sections/sec9. 2 Wilbur, Richard (1952), Boy at the Window, Things of this World, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Comparing Beowulf And The Redcrosse Knight - 1363 Words

During both the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the hero figure remained an important character for authors, but it was shown in different ways. While it was still important in both times, the definition of hero changed. During the Middle Ages a hero was someone who possessed bravery, fortitude, and loyalty. This changed during the era of the Renaissance where the hero was someone who possessed values of a Protestant: fidelity, hope, and charity. These ideas of a hero can be seen through Beowulf and the Redcrosse Knight. Though there are differences in the definition of a hero, there are similarities in the ways in which the two characters are portrayed fulfilling their heroic duties. The main difference between the hero during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance is that one is more focused on the ideals of religion while the other is focused on typical ideals of knighthood. Beowulf is essentially the perfect knight, having each value in spades. Beowulf has the heroic ideals of bravery, fortitude, and loyalty. In each situation that Beowulf encounters, he proves that he is a hero by displaying these values. Beowulf consistently expresses his bravery and fortitude is when he goes to battle on three different occasions. The first time he shows his bravery is when he hears of the trouble the Danes are experiencing and he decides to offer his â€Å"wholehearted help and counsel† (line 278). He shows this same bravery again when going after Grendel’s mother. This isn’t the