The Misunderstanding of Welfare
“Let the welfare of the people be ultimate law.”- Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman Philosopher

When the word “welfare” is mentioned there a vision of poor individuals who have been laid off or single mothers who cannot provide for their families. Society unjustly makes negative assumptions about welfare recipients. Many people believe a person on welfare is wasting taxpayer’s money. The use of language is one of the greatest necessities of life, and a key to our success. A single word, like “welfare,” can have many different meanings, yet to some it generates a negative perspective and a stereotype of a group of people. According to Gloria Naylor “words themselves are innocuous; it is consensus that gives them true power” (Peterson 234). The primary reason the United States Constitution was established was to promote the general welfare of the people, and for the government to preserve the welfare of the people. This essay will explain the origin of the word “welfare” and will consider the use of the word regarding employees’ welfare, the lesser known corporate welfare, and the welfare state. In particular, the term itself engenders such notions as health, happiness and prosperity.
Originally, welfare meant being healthy and having prosperity, not necessarily enjoying wellbeing or being happy. If you study economics, “welfare or wellbeing refers to a status of emphasizing happiness and contentment, which includes one's living standards” (McQuillin 563). However, even economists realize that not all happiness derives from being financially well off. Almost everyone knows being wealthy is not the same as being happy. When Aristotle described the good life he explained, “that it is full of happiness and happiness is the most desirable of all good things” (Soccio 166). Successful businesses have acknowledged one of the primary concerns of employee’s welfare the promotion of happy and healthy employees. Happy and healthy employees tend to show up to work more often, resulting in an increase in production, whereas those that are in poor health and have no means to change the situation tend to miss work, and produce less. “Promoting the well-being of an employee improves employee loyalty to the business” (Cole 42). When employees are taken care of by their employers they are less likely to leave and change companies or careers. On the other hand, one government welfare program receives more funding and less attention.
The welfare program less known to the public is corporate welfare, the government spends more on subsidies to corporations than on social welfare programs for individuals. These subsidies provided to businesses include tax breaks, direct government grants, loans, insurance, and various other forms. The biggest act of corporate welfare occurred during the Great Recession, when the government gave cash bailouts to banks and brokerage firms. Like other forms of welfare, many individuals and groups opposed this program, believing the language used is disguising the real meaning, a free handout to businesses. According to George Orwell, “Language merely reflects existing social conditions, and we cannot influence its development by any direct tinkering with words and constructions” (Peterson 268). Not all corporate welfare programs started out as welfare. According to Donald Bartlett, “Some began as foreign aid and turned into term annuities for corporate beneficiaries” (Bartlett 78). Certain global industries benefitted from this program in the form of government insurance, loans and grants, in addition to foreign-aid contracts. It is estimated the government spends twice as much on corporate welfare than on food stamps and subsidies for housing for the poor. Some of our leaders in Congress view corporate welfare as an economic benefit and a driving force for economic growth in our country. But in the article “Put an End to Corporate Welfare,” by Stephen Moore and Stansel Dean, says “Corporate welfare is a huge drain on the Federal treasury for little economic benefit.” In comparison to corporate welfare, the next program receives more scrutiny from our society.
There is widespread agreement that the social welfare state is broken, in need of a drastic reform, and just maybe has outlived its time. Social welfare cannot be fully understood without recognizing that it essentially has symbolic purposes. Our society shaped how a majority of us view the word “welfare.” During the Great Depression, emergency relief measures were introduced that focus on providing work and stimulating the economy on projects, rather than on distributing cash payments. During this time of need, the government took the responsibility to provide a safety net for the people, to have its government serve the welfare of the people. Some this could never happen again in the United States. Our very own society looks down on welfare recipients; we associate them with laziness, irresponsibility and desire “easy money.” There was no benefit, and the program was just wasting taxpayer’s money. Then in 2008, the Great Recession swept across the nation where thousands of Americans lost their jobs, requiring them to turn again to the government for assistance. Even some of those doubters from our society discovered the benefit of the welfare state and learned not to pass judgment on a group before fully understanding the meaning of the word. After all, welfare meant being healthy and having prosperity. In conclusion, a single word, like “welfare,” can have many different meanings, yet to some it generates a negative perspective and a stereotype of a group of people. The original term of “welfare” engenders such notions as health, happiness and prosperity. Being financially well off and wealthy does not guarantee happiness. Successful businesses have learned that a happy and healthy employee makes a better employee. Corporate welfare is less known to the public, but it receives more funding than social welfare programs. Not all corporate welfare programs started out as welfare; instead beginning as foreign aid, and turned into term annuities for corporate beneficiaries. Our society shaped how a majority of us view the word welfare. Our very own society looks down on welfare recipients, believing this is a waste of taxpayer’s money. The Great Recession proved to some doubters not to pass judgment on a group who are down on their luck, because this could easily happen to them. In these United States of America, where we are supposed to stand and support each other during times of need. Too bad we cannot follow the original meaning of welfare.

“Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like Slavery and Apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom”- Nelson Mandela

Worked Cited

Bartlett, Donald L., et al. "Fantasy Islands." Time 152.20 (1998): 78. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.
Cole, Caroline Louise. "Building Loyalty." Workforce 79.8 (2000): 42. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.
McQuillin, Ben, and Robert Sugden. "Reconciling Normative And Behavioural Economics: The Problems To Be Solved." Social Choice & Welfare 38.4 (2012): 553-567. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
Moore, Stephen, and Dean Stansel. "Put An End To Corporate Welfare." USA Today Magazine 124.2604 (1995): 24. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.
Peterson, Linda, et al. The Norton Reader. 13th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. Print
Soccio, Douglas J. Archetypes of Wisdom. Seventh Edition. Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.