Social Problems in the UK | Analysing the British Welfare State

Social Problems in the UK | Analysing the British Welfare State IS THE BRITISH WELFARE STATE RESPONSIBLE FOR MANY CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL PROBLEMS? Introduction The idea of a welfare state can be taken to have different meaning depending on the way it is applied. The welfare state in all countries is however supposed to meet some basic objectives or needs of a state and therefore takes care of the welfare of all the members. There are some basic ideas that pertains the formation of any welfare state. The welfare state is taken as the ideal model of provision of comprehensive and universal welfare for the citizens which means the state is responsible for the needs of its citizens. Another idea on a welfare state is the concept of the welfare that is provided by the state, for example, in the USA. Welfare state takes also an idea of the social protection that is delivered by the state. In this case protection is provided by a combination of independent and voluntary government services. This paper will look closely that the welfare state in British and look into how it has strived to address some of the contemporary issue that continue to be a burden to the society. (Deacon 2002, p. 71) British Welfare state British social welfare date back to many years ago when the Beveridge Report of 1942 proposed for the formation of a National Insurance that would help to address the needs of the oppressed and the most poor in the state. In particular it was to look at family allowance, National Health Service and full employment. This was followed by the enactment of 1946 National Insurance Act, National Health Service Act of 1946 and the 1948 National Assistance Act which abolished the Poor Law and made some provisions for welfare services. The welfare state after 1948 was aimed at addressing some issues like social security, health, housing, education, and welfare of children. British welfare state is based on three main principal elements. They include: A guarantee of minimum standard The welfare state ensures that there are minimum standards that the citizens can have or are guaranteed to have. This is in order to ensure that there is social equality among all the citizens of the state. These minimum standards include even minimum income for all people. This is in order to ensure that all the citizens are ensured of at least the lowest living standards that they can live under in the society. As a part of the society, this principle is meant to ensure that there are not individuals who are live a high standard of life while there are others in the same society who lives in deplorable state. Social protection This is an element which is aimed at giving sense of security to all the people in the society. This is meant to ensure that all individual living in the society have a sense of security as pertain to various issue in the society. It is also means to avoid the exploitation of individual in the society in the sense that the rich can exploit the poor. Therefore social protection in this context goes beyond providing security to all people but also protecting individual and especially the children. In this regard this element takes a more broad approach and considers everyone as their brothers keeper. (Kaplan 2007, p. 15) Providing services at the best level As welfare state, it has a responsibility of providing basic services to its citizens. This means that the state has the duty of seeing that all those living in the county have access to basic services that they need for their survival. This element states that the role of the state doesnt not end in provision of these services but it extend to provision of the services in a more equitable manner. The services have to be availed to all the citizens and provided in the best way possible. In other worlds, it means that the state has the duty of serving the citizens rather than the citizens serving the state. These are the three elements that characterize the British welfare state. These principles define the role of the state and the duty that the state has toward its citizens. The British Welfare state has been identified in its practice with the â€Å"institutional† model of welfare. The key elements in the social welfare of the state include social protection and the provision of welfare service to the citizens on the bases of ensuring that there is observance of individual rights. (Murray1996, p. 72) But unlike what has been highlight above, the social welfare in the UK is not implemented on the bases of the three principles. The coverage of the welfare is very extensive but on the other hand the benefits and the services are delivered at a low level. This means that it is not all those who are target who get the right services or who benefit from the coverage of the service. The social protection principle is very patchy and the services that are provided are very much rationed. As such the welfare state in Britain may have succeeded in coming up with a very comprehensive social welfare policy but it is one thing to come up with such a policy and another thing to make it work altogether. From the above analysis we have seen that though the coverage of the state is quite large, the deliver of service is not well covered and the benefits are not felt by many people. Then could it be the weakness in the delivery of the three principles could be attributed to many of the contemporary issues that the state is facing currently British Welfare state and contemporary issues Currently there are many issues that have been highlighted in the British welfare state which can be directly attributed to the failure of the state. This has been due to failure by the state to put in place policies that address the needs of the citizens appropriately. As a result, there has been changing perspectives of the role of the state on its citizens and the capitalist approach has encroached in the society. Slowly, the welfare state has been turning to a man eat man society though many of us are unwilling to accept this concept as we consider ourselves right as compared to others. But there is a general concession from all the citizens that there are contemporary issue that were not there before that have suddenly surged into our society. Though there are other issues that can be attributed to this, the overall cause of these has been the failure by the state to address the needs of its citizens well. The tide of globalization has come up with many changes in the society like the change in our culture and our traditions but the fact remains that these issues have come to and the state should not take it as wave that will eventually end. There should have been systematic efforts aimed at addressing some of these issues. For example, some of the issue like teenage pregnancy has been caused by the breakdown of our culture and the mix up with the outside culture. (Haralambos and Holborn 2004, p. 142) However, we cannot attribute this to the wave of globalization alone as there are other factors at the interplay. For example, if the state realizes the change in our culture, what has it done to prevent the occurrence of such issues? Are there strict laws that have been drafted that try to address the issue? And most of all can the state look at the patter of these occurrences and try to address the root cause? It has been shown that the rate of teenage pregnancy is quite high in low income areas than in high income areas. Has the state done anything to address such an inequality? These are some of the questions every time we point at a particular contemporary issue that the society is facing. There are so many questions that the state ought to have addressed but which it has not. The first important way to address this issue it to first find the root causes of the contemporary problems that we are facing. One of the root causes of the problems that we are facing is inequality in the society. This inequality is not vested only in the level of income of the citizens but also in the way the citizen access resource from the government. It all goes back to the issue of political representation in the country. Our political system has it that most of the regions which are not well represented political do not access resources the same way as other areas. Most of the areas which are inhabited by people not of original British results are usually not well represented in the political arena. Therefore those areas do not receive services the same way as other areas. (Lavalette and Pratt 2003, p. 9) One of the areas that have witnessed most inequalities is the health sector. There have been many studies which have shown inequalities in the way the British citizens have access to health services. The Black Report was especially crucial in highlighting how the state has failed to address the health needs of the citizens. This report and others gave an account of how those areas which are politically represented in the government have access to health services while those coming from areas which are not politically well represented have problems accessing health services. Therefore the evidenced difference in health care can be directly attributed to demographic inequality in the provision of health service. This is likely to have a lot of implications on the citizens since it will affect the heath status of the citizens. Therefore there are many other ways in which social welfare of the state has failed to address the needs of the citizens. This has led to a massive inequality in the way the public have access to services. Lack of these basic services can be attribu4ed to a number of issues that are facing the modern society. For example there is a close association between economic inequality and the rate of crime. In this regard there has been increased rates of crime in the low income regions that in the high income regions. It has become difficult for the welfare state to address the needs of those coming from low income areas and therefore they have resulted to criminal activities. Instead of the state moving to address the root cause of increased crimes in these areas, it concentrates more on putting in place measures that ensure that those who are convicted of crimes are held in jails. In case they were the bread winners of their families, the cycle continuous as their wives and their children are caught in the same trap of crime. (Wilson 1990, p. 62) Conclusion Therefore we can say that the failure by the British welfare society to address the needs of its citizens can be directly attributed to be the root cause of many social issues that the country is facing right now. One of the root causes of all the contemporary issue has been the failure by the state to address the high rates of inequalities in the society. This inequality has apparently been the cause of many other problems that the society is facing right now. Reference: Deacon, A. (2002). Perspectives on Welfare. Buckinghamshire, UP. Haralambos, M. Holborn, M. (2004). Sociology: Themes and Perspectives. London: Collins. Lavalette, M. Pratt, A. (2003). Social Policy: A Conceptual and Theoretical Introduction. London: Sage. Murray, C. (1996). Charles Murray and the Underclass, London: IEA Health and Welfare Unit Wilson, W. J. (1990). The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, The Underclass and the Public Policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press Kaplan, G. (2007). Health Inequalities and the Welfare state. University of Michigan

Maliciousness Exposed in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay

Foolishness and Maliciousness in Exposed in  Heart of Darkness  Ã‚        Ã‚   Joseph Conrad paralleled the Eldorado Expedition in his novel Heart of Darkness with the Katanga Expedition of 1890-1892. By doing so, he illustrated the folly and malevolence of the leaders of the Katanga Expedition and of Imperialist profiteers in general. The foundations for the Katanga Expedition were laid in 1883 when King Leopold proposed that he would leave the Congo state to Belgium in his will if he could borrow 25 million francs without interest to finance development of the area. In 1890, Prime Minister Beernaert ensured that Leopold got the loan (Pakenham 399). Through German adventurers and British missionaries, Leopold soon learned of both the riches Katanga had to offer in terms of natural resources and of its unusual native warlord, Msiri. With hopes of gaining raw materials, Leopold launched the Katanga Expedition in 1890 (Pakenham 400). Conrad’s "Kurtz" in Heart of Darkness is based on Georges-Antoine Klein (Sherry 9), although there are many similarities between him and Msiri, the native chief of Katanga, as well. Like Kurtz, Msiri was fond of keeping tight control of everything in his area, and he was partial to showing off his collection of human heads (Pakenham 400). As Kurtz had no qualms about shooting his supporters (such as the Russian) over trivial matters (Conrad 56), Msiri frequently cut off appendages of any of his subjects who displeased him (Pakenham 403). As Msiri was huge, "six-foot and fourteen stone," (Pakenham 403), Kurtz "looked at least 7 feet long" (Conrad 59). When Msiri’s enemies became bolder, huts filled with Msiri’s supplies were burned down (Pakenham 406). This is analogous to the incident in Heart of... ... at the back of it than there is in burglars breaking into a safe," (Conrad 33). Through Marlow, Conrad was pointing out the evil ambitions of the Katanga Expedition. In the Katanga Expedition, there was no true goal of "enlightening" the "savage" natives. The members of the expedition cared only about money and riches. They did not care about what happened to the native people of Africa. Conrad was disgusted with the way Belgium treated people of the Congo, and he blatantly illustrated this repugnance with his portrayal of the Katanga Expedition thinly veiled as the Eldorado Expedition. Works Cited Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc, 1988. Pakenham, Thomas. The Scramble for Africa. New York: Random House, 1991. Sherry, Norman. Conrad’s Western World. Great Britain: Cambridge University Press, 1971.      

Huxley, Plato Comparison on Education Essay

In Plato’s Republic, Plato believed the state was responsible for the education of its citizens for the purpose of their individual enlightenment. Huxley, in his work Brave New World takes this part of Plato’s utopian society and perverts it in order to indoctrinate the citizens of his state. I will attempt to argue that Huxley uses education by the state to indoctrinate its citizens and ultimately undermine Plato’s theory on education by the state for individual enlightenment. The ways in which Huxley uses education to indoctrinate the individual are diverse. Music or rather hypnopaedic sound was used to indoctrinate the citizens while they slept (Kindle, Huxley, loc 385). Eugenics but more precisely the Bokanovsky Process is used along side with Podsnap’s Technique to create the individual. These processes combined allowed the state to alter embryos and make people into whatever the state desired (Kindle, Huxley, loc 84). The use of music to educate the youth was something Plato originally stated in his utopian society. He stresses that when people are young they are more susceptible to influence (Kindle, Plato, loc 8578). Huxley’s state does this as well and plays hypnopaedic sound (music) while the young are sleeping over and over again to indoctrinate them, and slowly alter their thoughts or make them remember certain things. The uses of hypnopaedic sound vary by tones and tongue but are ultimately used to create â€Å"social stability† which is another way of saying â€Å"control of the populace†. Hypnopaedic sound is used to make the citizens never try to fix anything or use old things, but buy new ones instead. One of the sounds for this type of indoctrination is â€Å"ending is better than mending, ending is better than mending† (Kindle, Huxley, loc 1328). This process of convincing people they need to buy things is a way of gaining contentment and satisfaction as well as benefitting the state by creating a consumer society. The saying or sound â€Å"every one belongs to every one else† is also used to create a society where everyone has sex with each other and there are no relationships. The sex is not for procreation but for entertainment seeing as the state creates the individual and regulates childbirth. Plato also favored this sharing in his Utopia but only for his guardian class of citizens. Huxley applied this to his whole society but the sharing is only in-between classes never outside of classes. Another sound to further indoctrinate is â€Å"Every one works for every one else. We can’t do without any one. Even epsilons are useful. We couldn’t do without Epsilons. Every one works for every one else. We cant do without any one†(Kindle, Huxley loc 951). This is a type of farce, seeing as not all the citizens of Huxley’s world perform the same tasks or duties. Hypnopaedic sound is also used to convince people to take soma (Kindle, Huxley loc 2699). â€Å"A gramme in time saves nine† and â€Å"One cubic centimeter cures ten gloomy sentiments† are some of the hypnopaedic sounds used (Kindle, Huxley loc 1140). The drug soma was developed when the government of Huxley’s society took over the pharmaceutical industry. Soma has no side effects except providing an escape for people away from their problems, anxieties or feelings (Kindle, Huxley, loc 1328). This is really another means of control and also perversion by Huxley, which is compounded by hypnopaedic sound. The sound â€Å"everybody’s happy now† is used to make people believe they are happy and if you believe you are happy, you are happy (Kindle, Huxley, loc 968). This form of perverted education by Huxley is how the state indoctrinates the individual but this is just a part of it. Huxley’s world state employs the method of the Bokanovsky’s Process to create or rather grow its citizens some thousands at a time (Kindle, Huxley, loc 84). This process combined with the Podsnap’s Technique allows the state to mold and create the individual into whatever the state dictates by using eugenics. Plato favored a process of eugenics also as a means to breed out imperfection. Huxley took this process to creation itself instead of modification through generations (Kindle, Plato, 1252). This is Huxley’s way of specialization, which Plato also talks about in his utopian educational system as a necessary way for the state to function (Kindle, Plato loc 4953). Huxley perverts this and takes it a step further and does not give the individual a choice in what their life may be. Citizens are grown in tubes and altered by means of chemicals, additives, and even gravitational forces (Kindle, Huxley, loc 170). By these alterations people cannot think or do outside of what their task or assigned job is by the states indoctrination. The citizen can only do what it is made to do by this process and cannot question it’s purpose. In Huxley’s world state everyone regardless of their class is completely content being what they are and nothing else. This is again because they cannot think outside of what they have been made and told to be by hypnopaedic sound and state modification. (Kindle, Huxley, loc 959). Huxley’s education by means of hypnopaedic sound and eugenics indoctrinates the citizens of his world state. This indoctrination keeps the people from questioning authority and the status quo and ultimately makes them slaves to Huxley’s world state. Huxley does a fine job in Brave New World of showing what can be possible after a great tragedy occurs and the people need someone to save them. This tragedy would then lead to drastic changes in the way people live and ultimately lead to a whole brave new world. Huxley’s Brave New World does not seem possible in the actual world. Brave New World is more of a cautionary tale of what if and the totalitarian state. The real world is to globalized now and states are interdependent upon one another but hey what if?

Courses Recommended for Medical School Applicants

Perhaps it goes without saying that getting into medical school is challenging. With about 90,000 applicants each year and an acceptance rate of 44%, you cannot afford to slack on any entry requirements. It becomes even more challenging  gaining admission to medical school  when you are applying to the top 100 schools in the U.S., whose acceptance rate is a mere 6.9 percent in 2015.   One very simple prerequisite for entry to med school is completing all the required courses necessary to apply. These courses are nonnegotiable because they are required by the Association of American Medical Schools (AAMC), the organization that accredits medical schools. Make sure you have all of the following courses completed (or in the process of being completed) when you apply to medical school. Required Courses Since the medical field is heavy in sciences that concern the body and its environment, one would be right to assume a full year (two semesters) of biology and physics are needed to meet the AAMC prerequisites for applicants. Some schools may also require a semester of genetics and to ensure the applicant receives a well-rounded education and has the skills necessary to communicate well, a full year of English is also required.   Additionally, the AAMC requires applicants to complete one year each of organic and inorganic chemistry. These specific fields of study improve applicants understanding of the fundamentals of science as it relates to the medical field, be it for the chemicals needed in aesthetic treatment or for the chemical components of living matter.   Although thats all of the required courses specific to applying to medical schools, you also have to abide by your colleges curriculum  guidelines in order to earn your degree. Be sure to consult your counselor about which courses are required for your degree and how best to integrate the required courses into your schedule.   Recommended Courses You should also discuss courses that your counselor recommends that will give you a competitive advantage in your admission to medical school. Although these courses are not required, they could greatly help simplify your graduate-level studies. Taking Calculus—which many schools do require—could, for instance, lend to simplifying later chemistry equations youll need to use to pass advanced classes.   Many of the recommended courses also help prepare the potential med school student for being a doctor. Molecular biology, neuroscience, and upper-level psychology are often recommended to help the hopeful doctorate better understand more advanced lessons detailing the body and the brain. Statistics or epidemiology and ethics will help the doctor to understand the variety of patients and potential outcomes he or she may face in his or her career. These recommended courses illustrate the basic educational themes that med schools look for in applicants: the capacity and interest for understanding science, logical thinking,  good communication skills, and high ethical standards.  Ã‚  You don’t need to be a premed major  to complete these courses and meet the prerequisites for medical school, but make no mistake that a premed major certainly helps.