The Poor Law
The Poor Law was a system established since the reign of Queen
Elizabeth I, about two hundred years before the Poor Law Amendment Act
of 1834. In this system the able-bodied poor should be set to work,
whilst the others had to be provided for by their parish of birth. By
1795 when the whole system was under strain, an attempted solution was
the Speenhamland system also know as the allowance system that was
devised in 1795. This was devised to relieve the acute distress of the
poor by giving money to families calculated according to the number of
children and the price of bread.
As the Poor Law was becoming increasingly costly throughout the years,
there had to be change in order to protect the ratepayers and
government alike. Apart from the cost of the Poor Law, other factors
such as War, possible revolution under the influence of 1830’s French
Revolution, ‘laissez faire’, over-population, corruption,
demoralisation, the results of the Royal Commission and the role of
important individuals have helped to convince the government that they
had to react to the distress and abuse that existed and that the Poor
Law was not doing what it was intended to do originally: provide for
those who genuinely needed it. This led to an inquiry into the
situation so as to reform the system and make it more efficient and
cost effective. Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) and David Ricardo
(1772-1823) both advocated change and strongly believed that the
abolition of the Poor Law would make wages rise because the poor rate
would no longer be levied and employers could afford to pay more and
therefore everyone would prosper.
By 1830 it has...
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...st this and believe that it had other motives
behind it. For example the Marxist perspective maintains that the Act
was “nothing more than a naked class exploitation by the newly
enfranchised middle classes.” Therefore, by holding down the poor rate
by making harsh and unacceptable workhouses, the poor were forced to
work for lower wages. The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 was the most
significant development in the history of poverty and welfare in the
nineteenth century, but on the other hand it was hated by the poor who
had to live with the threat of the workhouse. From then on workers
were forced to take responsibility for their own economic situation
and had to take employment at any wage. Therefore workers had to find
alternative ways of coping with poverty because the State had
withdrawn its traditional support.
Even the president said, "Something has to be done about the elimination of child labor and long hours and starvation wages" (Roosevelt). People worked to their breaking points and then still not being able to provide for their families. People were paid “starvation wages”, which are wages that are not high enough to pay for necessities (“Merriam-Webster”). Hoovervilles, otherwise known as hobo-camps or squatter-camps, began to arise (“Hoovervilles”). Obviously, extreme poverty and famine were a huge problem. The government got involved. FDR stated, "Do not let any calamity-howling executive with an income of $1,000 a day, ...tell you...that a wage of $11 a week is going to have a disastrous effect on all American industry" (Roosevelt). As a result, the Fair Labor Standards Act went into effect. Moreover, the Fair Labor Standards Act established minimum wage to prevent starvation wages, record keeping to avoid long hours, and regulations on child labor to prevent the labor abuse of children (“Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938”). It also put standards on how much employers had to provide. For example, things such as vacation, sick days, or raises are not required underneath the Fair Labor Standards Act (“Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938”). Through placing regulations on labor practices, the Fair Labor Standards Act helped people begin to have rights in their jobs, therefore making work be little
Since the poor contribute nothing, they are draining the resources needed by everyone else. “Since the worlds resources are dwindling, the difference in the prosperity of the rich and poor can only increase,” Hardin writes (Lifeboat Ethics, 170). On the other hand Swift believes that everyone needs help and mercy at some point in their life. If the poor had jobs they would be able to contribute in order to replenish the resources they use. He indicates that, if the affluent were more conservative with the use of their money and resources by buying local goods, there would jobs for the poor and paying taxes in emergency situations would not be so
In fact, many believed the poor were just worthless idlers who were not even trying to better there own situations, but instead were taking the high roads away from taxes and worries (Document 11). There were many observed instances in which those in poverty, when given the opputinity to better their lives, chose to stay poor and recieve handouts. One such cause comes from William Turner, and English Physican for Lord Earl of Somerset when he recounts how poor folks often begged on the Earl's door but when Turner offered to help health wise, they chose to stay sick and beg (Document 6). Similar to modern day abusers of the American Wellfare system, officals became very angry with idlers who did nothing but feed off the wealth of the working class in the form of alms. They even believed that idlers should be expelled from their communites as they only bring economics down (Document 5). Many also thought that in order received any aid at all a person must be working. Reforms such as the Workhouse Test Act in 1723, though this occured later than the period of discussion, were a result of these opinions. This act, among others, required that people work a set amount of hours before they could receive any aid. Even the famous Cardinal Richelieu of France believed that the idlers were “good-for-nothings” who were restricting those who actually needed help from getting it while they were being lazy and greedy (Document 8). This opinion of certain poor indivudals being lazy and abusing resources remains amoung those in power even today in
The coercion of the working class continued throughout the eighteenth century. Horrible working conditions, poverty, and hunger were blooming in the world of the industrial proletariat. The fruitless revolts did not change the situation and just when it seemed like the treatment of the waged people could not get any worse, the resolution appeared in all its glory. This historical period (1860-1914) could be best described using the Hegelian philosophy. The constant oppression of the working class will serve as thesis.
Marx expressed many views about the over empowerment of the bourgeoisies in The Communists Manifesto. Marx believed that the working class was not getting paid what they deserved for the quality of work that they were producing. Marx thought that the all workers should be paid the same rather than by social position. For instance, Marx thought that a mineworker should be paid as much as a doctor. Marx states, ?The average price of w...
Economic Injustice in America "Class is for European democracies or something else--it isn't for the United States of America. We are not going to be divided by class." -George Bush, the forty-first President of the United States (Kalra 1) The United States of America was founded on the basis of a "classless society of equals," committed to eliminating the past injustices imposed on them by Great Britain.
“Poverty is the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possession” (“Poverty”). Throughout history, poverty has been a debilitating social issue that has negatively impacted people and societies. Numerous programs and initiatives dating back centuries have attempted to solve poverty yet it still remains an issue. There are many strategies that help combat or minimize poverty. We will look at how government legislation and social aid programs have impacted poverty and also the factors that ultimately place people in poverty.
America focuses on keeping the rich streets clean and the poor streets dirty with a sense of people of color will be placed in poor dangerous neighborhoods with violence and drugs. The news reporters every day file cases of police officers using their power to control and abuse the law by hurting citizens by their image of clothing and color of their skin. In “A Brother’s Murder” a journalist talks about his experience living in a poor neighborhood and how his brother tragically died in a city of crime. No it does not mean it is always out in the public there are cases where officers hide what they did and get away with it. The laws support the officers in their favor in trails depending on the state and how strong the evidence was for the victim. To make matters worse history repeats even in the twentieth century. The type of brutal injustice can go on more centuries because the blindness Americans have towards the issue. In “For My Indian Daughter” a father talks to his daughter in how the world will treat her because she is Native American. Lewis’s life has not been easy and he knows the pain his people including his daughter will face by giving his wisdom to carry on through bad times. Americans will focus more on their twitter updates than to start a peace club and expose the racism going on. The blindness will continue because of the fear of speaking out or the lack of opening pages in a history book. Racism still impacts American society today in the way law and order is carried out, or not carried out, for people of color.
The world is based from two types of laws. Just and unjust laws. In recent years a series of new laws have been adopted. Some of these laws were just and others were unjust. Something that differentiates unjust law from just is it’s an unfairness. In other words, unjust law is something that does not equally apply to everybody. It could be directed to the specific person or group of people. For instance, the law of banning propaganda of homosexuality, making homosexsuals second class citizens who are not entitled to, for example, to express their feelings in public. The law on rallies, forbidding citizens to assemble peacefully and without arms, where they wish. Another, example would be zoning law. Where people have no right of control over
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Nowadays, Judicial Review has been expanded in such extent that it can be argued that any kind of power, statutory or prerogative, will be reviewable. English courts are responsible to handle the manner of the exercise of a public power, in relation to its scope and its substance. In order to achieve this, the Courts will rely on legislative intention an area with a lot of academic debate, those in favour of the ultra vires theory and those of the common law theory. Whether this legislative intention is a convincing constitutional justification will be based on the grounds of judicial review which these grounds give the source of power to the judicial review powers of the Courts. However, there are areas that the Courts should or cannot engage, as they are limited firstly by their constitutional role and secondly by their institutional capacity.