Welfare or Illfare? Six children dead

[NB I can only use links to newspapaers not protected by paywalls. Just in case you are wondering.]

Sadly and by some coincidence this story puts into context what I had been saying:

Michael Philpott is a perfect parable for our age

His story throws into surreal relief the row between the Tories and Labour this week about Iain Duncan Smith’s much-needed benefit reforms. While the Left and the Church cry that they are unfair and immoral, the Government argues calmly that what is immoral is leaving families such as Michael Philpott’s to languish on benefits for generations.

Indeed, Philpott never even attempted to find a job. The children owed their existence to his desire to milk the welfare system.

[Read and weep.]

Lots more hand-wringing today from journalists:

Welfare reform: It's class war, but not in the way you'd expect (Telegraph)

Writer says it's the Liberals who are far, far removed from the welfare system who are crying out for such reforms. The poorest and proudest actually do not wish to be trapped in a cycle of benefits-poverty.

Pity the poor, unthanked middle-class warrior for welfare rights! These lonely campaigners have come up with all sorts of theories to explain the poor’s failure to get off their lardy derrières and defend welfarism. Their favourite is the idea that the less well-off, being a bit dim, have been brainwashed by “scrounger”-hating tabloid newspapers.

...

The implication in all the hand‑wringing commentary is that the less well-off should, by nature, be pro-welfare. And if they aren’t, they must be brainwashed by “the Right”. Yet Britain’s struggling communities have never been fans of welfarism, and for good reason: unlike columnists and campaigners, they’ve seen with their own eyes the devastating impact it can have on community life.

...

So, all you well-to-do campaigners for welfarism, there is no need to be bemused by the poor’s indifference to your battle. For what you love about welfarism – that it insulates the so-called “vulnerable” from the chaotic, often unfair world of the market and struggle – is precisely what the poor hate about it. And what you hate about IDS’s cuts – that they remove the “safety net” that many experience as a trap – might just be what the poor admire in them.

Labour's addiction to welfare hurts us all (Daily Mail)

 

The truth is that the real ‘welfare dependency’ problem is with politicians on the Left. They rely on the distribution of handouts to their client state to remain in power.