Philosophies of Social Welfare
What is social welfare? Social welfare is defined in many ways, but essentially refers to the well-being of people. This concept thus applies to every person in any society. Peoples levels or amounts of social welfare often relate to access to adequate shelter and food, health care, employment, sanitation, and guarantees of clean air, water, and safe food. Many would also include in their description services such as education and transportation, and social conditions such as public safety, freedom from discrimination, freedom of expression, and freedom to practice any religious belief (or no religion). This expanded definition incorporates some of the fundamental concepts of (universal) human rights. While all societies provide for varying degrees of social welfare, some often promote the social welfare of different social groups to the detriment and social exclusion of other groups.
All of us have been raised in different cultural contexts that shaped our understanding of and beliefs about economics, politics, and the role of government in ensuring the social welfare of its people. Family, education, mass media, religious institutions, and peer groups are primary influences on our beliefs about social problems and the proper function of government (especially its role in promoting social welfare).
This assignment asks you to reflect on your own values and beliefs about the role of economics, government, and the relationship between social problems and social welfare (policy) in the United States. In a short essay address the following two items:
1. Describe your own economic and political philosophy, especially in relation to social welfare policy and key social problems like poverty and inequality. Explain how your own values and beliefs resemble and/or differ from the viewpoints described in the readings for Sessions 2 and 3 and chapters from the Jimenez et al textbook). Your paper must refer to and incorporate insights from a several of these readings.
2. Explain the cultural and societal factors that have influenced the development of your own economic and political philosophy. Think of culture as values, beliefs, behavioral norms, and aesthetic preferencesthe symbols and ideas that shape and inform peoples lives in relation to one another and the social systems in which they participate. Incorporate those significant events in your life that have either changed your views or reinforced them on the topic of social welfare, poverty, the role of government, etc.
