Question

Do you consider the current day U.S. to be a welfare state? Define what a welfare state is and discuss the good and bad of it.

Answer 1

Countries that promote the welfare of their citizens are referred to as the Welfare States. Every elected or appointed government has the responsibility of protecting its citizens from economic and social injustices. It is also the governments’ duty to uphold the dignity of the citizens. In most countries barring a few like Syria, Iran, and Cuba the government plays an indispensable role in the provision of social and economic benefits and protection of their rights and privileges of the citizens. The United States of America developed a limited welfare state in the 1930s. Currently, when the USA is in the neoliberal era the trend is increasingly towards the retrenched social welfare state. This move has been justified by its proponents with the argument that the citizenry must take on personal responsibility.