There is a fundamental reason why the welfare STATE will always be exploited. Not because of flaws in the system (which government is vainly attempting to correct), but because it's what the state's original and still primary purpose is: to facilitate society's self-exploitation.
That sounds absurd, I know, but only because we have been brain-washed, for centuries, into believing the opposite, i.e. that the state exists to SERVE society.
It does serve society, of course, and we all depend on it, but as a shepherd serves his flock. Which isn't primarily for the flock's sake (notwithstanding any genuine concern for a lost or injured lamb), but for his own and/or his employer's sake, for the meat and wool the flock provides and can be exchanged at market for money.
The primary purpose of the STATE is to facilitate “society's” self-exploitation, as an artificial human ENVIRONMENT. This is what it was created for, back in the Middle Ages, by a coalition of aristocracy and clergy. Not consciously, of course, but subconsciously, in pursuit of a misplace and perverted Darwinian drive for POWER and all the advantages that go with it.
Things have moved on since the Middle Ages, with the aristocracy and clergy being largely displaced by other, more numerous and diverse, “self-interest groups”, but the fundamental purpose of the state's power structures remain the same: to facilitate “society's” self-exploitation as an artificial human ENVIRONMENT.
It is in this context that the problems of the welfare state (along with most other issues) are to be understood, once we have overcome the misunderstandings and confusion caused by the STATE posing as our NATION, which most of us unthinkingly equate it with.
Just as the rich and powerful have always used their wealth and power to exploit society to their own advantage, now, thanks to the welfare system, ordinary citizens are able to as well.
When the welfare system was first created, most people still believed in Britain being a NATION, which they had been intensely proud to serve during the war, and wouldn't have dreamed taking unnecessary or unfair advantage of.
However, 60 years of consumer capitalism (which sees people primarily as a “human resource” or “market”) and mass immigration (which has undermined the natural, ethnic basis of nationhood) have between them strongly eroded our sense of national identity and solidarity.
We see millions of immigrants coming here to exploit the freedoms and opportunities unavailable in their countries of origin (and who can blame them?), with the state and capital in turn exploiting their cheap labour, along with the power-political advantage of being able to claim the spurious “moral high ground” associated with “colourblindness” and the virtues of “multi-ethnic society”. We see mind-boggling income differentials between those at the bottom, or even in the middle, and those at the top of the income scale, as those who can take as much as they can (and then do all they can to avoid paying tax on it). We see MPs taking advantage of their expenses, encouraged, no doubt, by those, less worthy than themselves, they see taking far more.
Those at the lower end of the social hierarchy look up and think to themselves: if those at the top are exploiting the system for all they can get out of it, why shouldn't I do the same? They don't have the opportunities that the powerful, wealthy, privileged and “talented” have, so they use the opportunities that are available - such as exploiting the welfare system.
That sounds absurd, I know, but only because we have been brain-washed, for centuries, into believing the opposite, i.e. that the state exists to SERVE society.
It does serve society, of course, and we all depend on it, but as a shepherd serves his flock. Which isn't primarily for the flock's sake (notwithstanding any genuine concern for a lost or injured lamb), but for his own and/or his employer's sake, for the meat and wool the flock provides and can be exchanged at market for money.
The primary purpose of the STATE is to facilitate “society's” self-exploitation, as an artificial human ENVIRONMENT. This is what it was created for, back in the Middle Ages, by a coalition of aristocracy and clergy. Not consciously, of course, but subconsciously, in pursuit of a misplace and perverted Darwinian drive for POWER and all the advantages that go with it.
Things have moved on since the Middle Ages, with the aristocracy and clergy being largely displaced by other, more numerous and diverse, “self-interest groups”, but the fundamental purpose of the state's power structures remain the same: to facilitate “society's” self-exploitation as an artificial human ENVIRONMENT.
It is in this context that the problems of the welfare state (along with most other issues) are to be understood, once we have overcome the misunderstandings and confusion caused by the STATE posing as our NATION, which most of us unthinkingly equate it with.
Just as the rich and powerful have always used their wealth and power to exploit society to their own advantage, now, thanks to the welfare system, ordinary citizens are able to as well.
When the welfare system was first created, most people still believed in Britain being a NATION, which they had been intensely proud to serve during the war, and wouldn't have dreamed taking unnecessary or unfair advantage of.
However, 60 years of consumer capitalism (which sees people primarily as a “human resource” or “market”) and mass immigration (which has undermined the natural, ethnic basis of nationhood) have between them strongly eroded our sense of national identity and solidarity.
We see millions of immigrants coming here to exploit the freedoms and opportunities unavailable in their countries of origin (and who can blame them?), with the state and capital in turn exploiting their cheap labour, along with the power-political advantage of being able to claim the spurious “moral high ground” associated with “colourblindness” and the virtues of “multi-ethnic society”. We see mind-boggling income differentials between those at the bottom, or even in the middle, and those at the top of the income scale, as those who can take as much as they can (and then do all they can to avoid paying tax on it). We see MPs taking advantage of their expenses, encouraged, no doubt, by those, less worthy than themselves, they see taking far more.
Those at the lower end of the social hierarchy look up and think to themselves: if those at the top are exploiting the system for all they can get out of it, why shouldn't I do the same? They don't have the opportunities that the powerful, wealthy, privileged and “talented” have, so they use the opportunities that are available - such as exploiting the welfare system.
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