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.