Essay on Effects of a Welfare State

A welfare state is concept of a government whereby a network of social institutions plays a crucial role in promoting and protecting citizens social and economic well-being. The concept is based on the principle of equitable wealth distribution, equal opportunities for all, and public responsibility for those who cannot earn the minimal provisions needed for a good life. Welfare states emerged for one reason, to advocate for adherence of human rights in the advent of capitalist activities. They are organizations of power used through administration and politics to modify the market forces. This power is mostly owned by the ruling parties, which is the government. Marxists have claimed that a welfare state only perpetuates the inequalities and exploitative aspects of capitalism. This paper discusses this claim in detail and analyses it to find out if it is true.

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The definition mentioned above does not highlight that it is the upper class in the society that influences decision making as it is its members that typically make up the parliament. Therefore, any acceptable definition or theory of the welfare state must not only explain the rationale of its existence but also two discernible features. The first one includes the similar trends of the welfare intervention in an array of countries and the second, the immense diversity in the scope and nature of the welfare state that still persists. In considering all this, from the conclusions to be made in this paper, it will be clear that most efforts of the advocates for a welfare state aim at discouraging capitalist activities. This begs the question of can the Marxists thinking of capitalism co-exist with the welfare state? If not, which is the best to take up; Marxists proposals or welfare state ones? It is worth looking at theories of welfare state and its development in the economic, social and political spheres. This analysis involves discussing the Marxism theory of capitalism, its benefits, ills and arguments both in favor or and against it

In modern society, the term welfare state refers to an infrastructure and framework set up by a government with the aim of developing society. All in all, even this framework has all the hallmarks of class society. The numerous benefits and services offered by capitalism were as a result of the need for a healthier and easier to exploit population, especially during times of employment booms. Also, welfare provision was set up particularly after the Second World War at a time when the capitalist class feared a formidable working-class movement in the absence of concessions. Whatever the case, the welfare state has always elicited a lot of disagreements and conflicts. On one hand, the working classes perceive it as a crucial safety net that offers basic amenities such as education, security and health. On the other hand, capitalists use it to discipline and control workers, for instance, revoking benefits for those who go on strike. They also utilize various wings of the state to sustain their capitalistic ideologies. A good example is the way governments are hostile towards single parents, and blaming laziness are the cause of unemployment. By doing this, capitalists try to transfer blame from themselves to victims of their system while undermining the confidence and support of individual who fight for better benefits.

On the flip side, the state has intervened in the past to provide affordable utilities such as electricity, gas as well as transport to private industries so that they can maximize the profits they make. Such state-sponsored utilities turned out to be crucial to the working-class quality of life. Any society can benefit from these kinds of provisions. In a socialist nation, they would be significantly expanded, run without the need for profits, and subjected to democratic control by users and workers. The provisions would be offered by well-planned and democratically-controlled economy.

When using the term welfare state, what Marxists have in mind is a description of the institutions used to maintain class rule. Nowadays, what is in place is a class society whereby the ruling class does not represent the entire populations needs and interests. The only way a minority can maintain its power and privileges is through exploitation of the majority, and the ruling class has to convince the masses to accept such a situation. The minority pull this out partly by controlling ideas and perceptions, for instance, through owning the mass media and generally controlling institutions such as education. They attempt to convince the mass that their system is the only effective way of organizing and maintaining order in the society. However, this system and the ideas associated with it clash with the interests and needs of the working class. For instance, if workers believed political commenters and what is reported on the news, they would never organize strikes and protests. However, they know that without a disposition to take action and some form of organization, they are unlikely to maintain standards of living.

Consequently, a conflict occurs when conditioning and propaganda fail, spurring the working-class and parts of the middle-class to rebel against the ruling class. As a way of getting back, the ruling class uses the law, courts, and the police to defend their power and profits. This is not surprising considering that they require a special tool to ensure the continuity of their rule. The core of the state is the repressive tool, made up of the courts, the police force, the army and the various intelligence-gathering agencies. The ruling class falls back on this tool when everything else fails to ensure its grip on power continues. Changing to a socialist form of government involves major tactical and strategic problems to do with battling this tool that exists as a defense for capitalist class rule.

Theorists who support capitalist politics claim two forms of welfare state exist: democracy and dictatorship. Both present ways of making sure that the ruling class remains in control. While Marxists are for democratic rights, they are of the opinion that there can be no democracy as long as social and democratic power is controlled by a capitalist class rule. Capitalists feel that their system is democratic there are rights to do with voting, political organization, and freedom of speech. They often argue that if an individual wishes to change things, he or she can always seek an elective post. In the real sense however, things are rather much more complex than that. In the case of a conventional democracy, there are a number of ways in which the capitalist class maintains its power.

A notable strategy that the capitalist class holds a grip on power is through controlling the economy. This happens to be the most crucial source of capitalist power considering that it provides the ruling class with vast resources needed to facilitate continuity of rule. By controlling financial institutions and workplaces, they can take whatever action they want. For instance, they can lay off workers by their thousands and evict them from their homes; in the process destroying communities. The class also dominates in terms of ideology. The various means of communication and the media including television, radio and newspapers are either owned by capitalists directly or are controlled by those who control them politically. Although capitalist ideas are in some cases questioned by Marxists, they are reproduced in many institutions of learning such as universities.

There is no denying that the capitalist ruling elite control the civil service and the judiciary. Top civil servants are usually not elected. Rather, they are career officers earning huge salaries and leading lifestyles similar to those of many capitalists. Often, they interchange between government and industry. Top officials of the civil service remain in office irrespective of who is elected. It is they who decide the information to be presented and the options that politicians have. These officials are usually recruited from the same public institutions of education as top capitalist politicians as well as judges. For instance, in Britain, the law is not made by parliament only. The law-making process also includes unelected judges, most of whom are elderly males from well-off backgrounds. All in all, this does not necessarily mean they various groups in league with the ruling class take a similar view on issues. Certain judges genuinely care about the credibility of the judicial system, meaning they are ready to admit mistakes and overturn judgments. They hope that, by doing this, they recreate the notion of impartial justice and enable them utilize their powers to fight notable challenges to the capitalist rule.

The capitalist class has total control over official politics. As a matter of fact, the entire democratic structure is designed to keep the working class out. For the greater pass, participation in politics is confined to voting in elections held once in every few years. A majority of top politicians are professionals such as doctors and lawyers, meaning they are capitalists in the real sense. It is much easier to manipulate the democratic system if someone has money, power and influence in form of access to the media. This scenario gives the capitalists an upper hand over the working class; although socialists will try to capitalize on any democratic opening presented by capitalism. Political institutions such as Parliament tend to absorb any reform-minded individual with political ambitions or working class leader through its privileges and convections. In Britain for instance, a large number of parliamentarians go on to become CEOs of top organizations, particularly those that were formerly in the public sector. Despite the meager salaries and remunerations they earn, they can still live a lifestyle that cannot be afforded by most ordinary people. This high flying lifestyle insulates them from effects of the policies they make. It explains why the Socialist Party has a policy to do with a workers Member of Parliament earning a workers wage. Such a policy is meant for the politicians claiming to represent the working class interests. The point is that no real democracy can be achieved without economic democracy, and if ordinary citizens do not take part in decision making. Socialist democracy is the only one deserving the honor.

It is worth looking at whether or not the welfare state has always been in existence. Lenin, the Russian revolutionary, explained that the state come into being following the earliest ever division of the society into antagonistic classes. For a long time, human beings lived in egalitarian societies that Engels and Marx called primitive communism. In these societies, people depended on each other, and working together was the communitys guiding principle. However, productivity rose thanks to efficient labor; something that resulted in the society producing much more than could cater for its immediate needs. Such a situation created the ideal conditions for a society divided into classes. There was the minority that initially came to administer, control and own this surplus, and who resorted to protecting it by force. The ruling class, i.e. the one in possession of economic power and dominance, formed the state for a number of reasons. They included the class protecting itself, ensure that what it desired came to pass while at the same time keeping its adversaries at bay. This is quite a notable point since the reverse also holds some truth. Once classes themselves cease to exist and a classless society is formed, that same force will no longer be of any use. Using a well-known phrase by Marx, the state would start withering away.

Another issue that Marxists have wi...