Societys Restraint To Social Reform Essays - Welfare Reform

Societys Restraint to Social Reform Of the many chatted words in the social reform vocabulary of Canadians today, the term workfare seems to stimulate much debate and emotion. Along with the notions of self-sufficiency, employability enhancement, and work disincentives, it is the concept of workfare that causes the most tension between it's government and business supporters and it's anti-poverty and social justice critics. In actuality, workfare is a contraction of the concept of "working for welfare" which basically refers to the requirement that recipients perform unpaid work as a condition of receiving social assistance. Recent debates on the subject of welfare are far from unique. They are all simply contemporary attempts to decide if we live in a just society or not. This debate has been a major concern throughout history. Similarly, the provision of financial assistance to the able-bodied working-age poor has always been controversial. On one side are those who articulate the feelings and views of the poor, namely, the Permissive Position, who see them as victims of our society and deserving of community support. The problems of the poor range from personal (abandonment or death of the family income earner) to the social (racial prejudice in the job market) and economic (collapse in the market demand for their often limited skills due to an economic recession or shift in technology). The Permissive View reveals that all participants in society are deserving of the unconditional legal right to social security without any relation to the individual's behaviour. It is believed that any society which can afford to supply the basic needs of life to every individual of that society but does not, can be accused of imposing life-long deprivation or death to those needy individuals. The reason for the needy individual being in that situation, whether they are willing to work, or their actions while receiving support have almost no weight in their ability to acquire this welfare support. This view is presently not withheld in society, for if it was, the stereotype of the 'Typical Welfare Recipient' would be unheard of. On the other side, the Individualists believe that generous aid to the poor is a poisoned chalice that encourages the poor to pursue a life of poverty opposing their own long-term interests as well of those of society in general. Here, high values are placed on personal choice. Each participant in society is a responsible individual who is able to make his own decisions in order to manipulate the progression of his own life. In conjunction with this opinion, if you are given the freedom to make these decisions, then surely you must accept the consequences of those decisions. An individual must also work part of his time for others (by means of government taxing on earned income). Those in society who support potential welfare recipients do not give out of charity, but contrastingly are forced to do it when told by the Government. Each person in society contains ownership of their own body and labour. Therefore anything earned by this body and labour in our Free Market System is deserved entirely by that individual. Any means of deducting from these earnings to support others is equivalent to criminal activity. Potential welfare recipients should only be supported by voluntary funding. For this side, welfare ultimately endangers society by weakening two of it's moral foundations: that able-bodied adults should be engaged in some combination of working, learning and child rearing; and secondly, that both parents should assume all applicable responsibilities of raising their children.(5) In combination of the two previous views, the Puritan View basically involves the idea that within a society which has the ability to sufficiently support all of it's individuals, all participants in the society should have the legal right to Government supplied welfare benefits. However, the individual's initiative to work is held strongly to this right. Potential welfare recipients are classified as a responsibility of the Government. The resources required to support the needy are taken by means of taxation from the earnings of the working public. This generates an obligation to work. Hence, if an individual does not make the sacrifice of his time and energy to contribute their earnings to this fund, they

Free Essays on The True Father Of Huck

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name of Mark Twain, tells the story of Huck’s travels down the Mississippi River with a runaway slave. Huck lived in a small town with his biological father, Pap; a drunk who had caused him many problems. However, in the novel, the character of Jim is portrayed as the â€Å"true father† of Huck. Because Jim acts as a role model and a mentor to Huck along their journey down the river, he proves to be more of a father figure to Huck than his biological father Pap. A father teaches his son lessons. Jim taught Huck many lessons both intentionally and indirectly. Jim shows Huck that slaves are real people, just like himself, despite the different color of skin. Huck gained a greater amount of respect for Jim when he talked of missing his family. Jim also shared with Huck that he remembers beating his little four-year-old girl once. Jim told Huck he regretted his actions and was overcome with sadness, and of how he misses his family towards the end of the novel. Jim teaches Huck that slaves are not different because of color; they have feelings, emotions, and love their families just as much as whites. Sharing this compassionate side of Jim teaches Huck that slaves are not completely different simply because of color. Jim allows Huck to see that slaves have feelings, emotions, and love their families just as white folk would love theirs. Jim cares for and protects Huck, just as a father should. When Jim and Huck went exploring in the two-story house, Jim would not let Huck see the dead man in the house. â€Å"’Come in, Huck, but doan’ look at his face- it’s too gashly’. I didn’t look at him at all. Jim throwed some old rags over him†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jim covered the man so Huck wouldn’t have to look at him. The dead man was his Pap. Jim did not want Huck to have to see his father’s face and be upset. Jim was looking out for Huck and t... Free Essays on The True Father Of Huck Free Essays on The True Father Of Huck The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name of Mark Twain, tells the story of Huck’s travels down the Mississippi River with a runaway slave. Huck lived in a small town with his biological father, Pap; a drunk who had caused him many problems. However, in the novel, the character of Jim is portrayed as the â€Å"true father† of Huck. Because Jim acts as a role model and a mentor to Huck along their journey down the river, he proves to be more of a father figure to Huck than his biological father Pap. A father teaches his son lessons. Jim taught Huck many lessons both intentionally and indirectly. Jim shows Huck that slaves are real people, just like himself, despite the different color of skin. Huck gained a greater amount of respect for Jim when he talked of missing his family. Jim also shared with Huck that he remembers beating his little four-year-old girl once. Jim told Huck he regretted his actions and was overcome with sadness, and of how he misses his family towards the end of the novel. Jim teaches Huck that slaves are not different because of color; they have feelings, emotions, and love their families just as much as whites. Sharing this compassionate side of Jim teaches Huck that slaves are not completely different simply because of color. Jim allows Huck to see that slaves have feelings, emotions, and love their families just as white folk would love theirs. Jim cares for and protects Huck, just as a father should. When Jim and Huck went exploring in the two-story house, Jim would not let Huck see the dead man in the house. â€Å"’Come in, Huck, but doan’ look at his face- it’s too gashly’. I didn’t look at him at all. Jim throwed some old rags over him†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jim covered the man so Huck wouldn’t have to look at him. The dead man was his Pap. Jim did not want Huck to have to see his father’s face and be upset. Jim was looking out for Huck and t...

The Decades Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Decades - Essay Example During this period racism had begun to die down and black people began to be seen as equals by the majority white people. Therefore this song that called for change exemplified the mood of change and togetherness. In the decade of the 1970s, â€Å"Dancing Queen† by Abba best exemplified the mood of the decade. This was the decade that saw the creation of bands and group singers. Abba was among the best bands and their band success exemplified the mood. In the decade of the 1980s, â€Å"Thriller† by Michael Jackson bet exemplified the mood of the decade as this was the decade that saw the revolution of dance and dancing moves. The song had a very good choreography that caught the hearts of many. In the decade of the 1990s, â€Å"Vogue† by Madonna best exemplified the mood (Garry 2001). This decade was a decade that saw the partial acceptance of gay relationships and people in the society. This song was about a gay dance move called ‘vogueing’ and henc e it therefore went with the mood of the decade. Finally in the decade of the new millennium, the song that best exemplified the mood was â€Å"Independent Woman† by destiny’s child as this was a period that saw women completely rise to the same status as men and even take up very prestigious positions. There are patterns of commonalities between the decade of the 1970s and that of the 1980s as this period experienced formation of numerous band groups that went ahead to become a success. There is also some commonality between the decade of the 1980s and 1990s whereby this period songs touched on alcohol and drugs and hence exemplified the drug