Welfare is one of those institutions for which those who honestly need it's services are hamstrung by the rules to do better than welfare and those who don't truly need it are free to make good use of it by those same rules. There is nothing benign about welfare. It may give the impoverished a hand out from those better off in society. But it isn't given magnanimously. It's a very embarrassing and demeaning process and from what I've seen from going along as an advocate. There are those welfare staff that exact a hefty price in pride and self-worth for their attention. More than once I been given the "these people" attitude by those who are paid very well for the sole purpose of helping "those people". My personal observation is that long term dependency on welfare destroys both mind, body and spirit. Many are trapped in a cycle of being on welfare and being working poor. Their educational, nutritional and medical needs never really get seen to. To the extent that they are propelled out of that cycle. Churches. Whatever their denomination contribute greatly to the food and shelter needs of those on the very bottom of the social ladder. As well for those times of natural and unnatural calamities.

It would seem that Richard Mulgan's point is amply proved. "Christian compassion for the vulnerable can easily slide into patronising assumptions of social and moral distance between those who give and those who receive." Some of the ranters on this thread don't even bother starting with charity, simply launching into invective and judgmental spite without pious preamble. Nice work fellas.

I can agree with you West on Orwell, in my view he was the sharpest political thinker of the 20th century (not to mention the finest English prose stylist since Jane Austen). I'm afraid I cannot share your view of the Salvos, who have done much good work. Mind you I deplore their moralising and rigid hierarchical structure. My wife's grandparents were both Colonels in the Salvation Army and her grandfather worked himself to death for the Salvos. He confided to a son (just before he died) that he felt the Army had exploited many of the officers, while the rich benefactors of the Army enjoyed the kudos. He didn't regret joining the Salvos, but felt he had stayed to long.

Charity has its place, but its place is not replacing government.

Vivy “As a former so called "idealist tosser" ……. “Teach them how to build robots to work in factories, so that human beings are freed up from tedious and mechanical labour.”

Oh you are game in your admissions vivy and you look to the Right to fix what you cannot resolve yourself. Check out any factory compared to the factory of 100 years ago and look at the productivity of every employee and you will see that what you have sought has been provided. Just go into any supermarket, consider the array of different goods and yes, yes we do have a better range of products to choose from than our grand parents and great grand parents. You might no have one yourself but the consumer society allows you choice to buy your own plasma screen.
What preceded our consumer society was a something closer to a subsistence society where people lived hand-to-mouth, week to week, fewer goods and services to indulge in.

Some hanker for simpler time but what we see is the “wealth” which the Capitalist Right have generated in action and through a consumer society, being distributed through the participants in society be they capable and competent or otherwise.

I've always wanted to go to sea but, never have. I could never find a incompetent boat builder with out the resources or tools to build a boat for me. Alas, I shall always be with out.

Col Rouge, as a teenager in the fifties, our family had very little in the way of material posessions, but I would suggest that we were happier and less stressed than the families of today with every possession known to man. The "wealth" that we currently have doesn't seem to be doing us a lot of good. The poor seem to be poorer and the rich are certainly richer and the world is getting more polluted.

Perhaps the underdeveloped countries should learn a lesson from this.

VK3AUU Im sure underpaid and unprotected workers in asbestos factories in Thailand will be comforted to hear that. We must get it out to all those prostitutes and slaves in the human traffic trade to count their blessings.

For those of us with real blessings to count it is easy to become blind to the real needs and the right to have pride in themselves and their lives. Aqvarvis is right people need to be given the tools (given, not lent) to survive. But welfare is not simply teaching somebody to shovel muck out of the gutters. A saftey net has to include minimum wages and conditions and assitance to those who leave work to care for children or for ill relatives, those who become temporarily sick or become disbaled those people make up much of tomorrows poor. Work , life balance must be high on any agenda because parenting hours are shrinking effectively de-social skilling future generations. Children are increasingly become emotionally isolated something childcare and schools will never be able to bridge. Job progression is also needed to be included and job life policies also need to be introduced. Boredom or hating a job is unsustainable creating more need for fiscal welfare and essentially a waste of life.

Needed regulation wont come in this 19th century economic era it will be a long time before we can dispense with mass fiscal welfare benefits.