sitting bull

Is it the responsibility of a democratically elected government to provide a programm of welfare to some its citizens which would enable them to maintain a basic existence ? and to what extent ?
Is there a danger that a dependency culture emerges as was claimed afer the introduction of the 1930s social security act ?
There have been many welfare to work types of initatives implemented throughout the intervening the years with varying degrees of success .
And finally in the absence of any meaningful support structure for certain groups of people is the void filled by criminality as a means of compensating ?
The cost of investigating and prosecuting the perpetrators of criminal acts and the cost of incarcerating them as well as suring up society with surveillance technology is estimated to be 2 per cent of GDP ! Compare that to the cost of a fully funded welfare assistance programme that guarantees every individual at least half the minimum wage in cases of genuine hardship .
The correlation between poverty and criminality cannot be dismissed or ignored - the dividend is worth celebrating .

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