LIBERALISM: 15 marker question

On what grounds have modern liberals defended the principle of social

welfare
Social welfare is the idea that the state has a responsibility to intervene in society to
provide support for those whose freedom is constrained by poverty, disease and
ignorance. It therefore tries to assist people in social security, health, education and
housing issues.
Firstly, modern Liberals have defended welfarism on the belief of equality of
opportunity. If some individuals or groups of people are disadvantaged by their social
circumstances, then the state possesses the social responsibility to reduce these
barriers to create equality. Equality links in with the idea of all human beings being
entitled to inalienable natural rights and the pursuit of happiness which Jefferson
and Locke advocated due to them being seen as equal human beings in the eyes of
God. Both modern and social liberals such as T H Green believed it ought to be
provided by an enabling and altruistic state, whose role is far larger than classical
advocates of negative freedom had envisioned. Positive freedom has also produced the
advent of welfarism, which was worked in the UK by the publication of the Beveridge
report in 1942, which seeks to rid society of the five pillars of social exclusion: want,
ignorance, squalor, idleness and disease. This led to the formation of a welfare state
which helps to provide what Berlin coined a level playing field and enlarge freedom in
a positive sense through the state provision of a public national health service,
unemployment benefits such as Jobseekers Allowance, social housing and
comprehensive state-run education. However, negative freedom gives the individual
freedom of choice which would enable them to exploit other individuals as liberty is
only constrained physically and legally, whereas, positive acknowledges social
disadvantages and inequality. Where classical liberals argued for a minimal state,
modern liberals endorsed a state which enables individuals to prosper and thrive by
offering citizens a variety of social and economic responsibilities.
Secondly, modern liberals have defended social welfare through their concept of human
nature. Individuals, according to Green, have sympathy for one another, their egoism is
constrained by altruism. Altruism is the concern for the interests and welfare of others
based on a belief in morality. The individual possesses social responsibilities and not
just individual responsibilities. Greens belief rejects Mills ideas of the individual being
sovereign and early beliefs of human beings as self-seeking maximisers which
Bentham also supported through utility with individuals desiring pleasure and avoiding
pain. Although, Benthams theory has been adopted by modern liberals in the sense
that there is moral philosophy and it can be applied to a society. On the other hand, it
does cause inequality because not everyone can be satisfied with one outcome and the
Tyranny of the Majority.
Finally, modern liberals have defended the principle of social welfare in reaction to
laissez-faire and classical economics which created high levels of poverty. Smith
reinforced the idea of the free market which operated according to the wishes and
decisions of individuals, allowing employers to take advantage of their workers and not

provide sufficient rights. This contrasted mercantilism, an economic idea which

encouraged governments to intervene in economic life. Mercantilism could be seen to
be associated as a modern liberal idea in the sense that the government would be able
to give a national minimum wage to workers and put in place specific working
regulation laws.