Shifting Attitudes Toward The Poor In Victorian England History Essay

Shifting Attitudes Toward The Poor In Victorian England History Essay Shifting Attitudes toward the Poor in Victorian England. The 1880s have usually been described in terms of a rediscovery of poverty and a decline of individualism in the public conscience of Victorian England despite more than a century of unparalleled commercial progress. The publication of Henry Georges Progress and Poverty in 1881 opened a period characterised by books and surveys which focused public attention on the problems of poverty and squalor by providing compelling numerical justification for more collectivist and socialist government policies. Even Gladstone openly acknowledged in his 1864 budget statement that the astonishing development of modern commerce under free trade was insufficient to remove an enormous mass of paupers who were struggling manfully but with difficulty to avoid pauperdom. Throughout the 1880s, it was clear even to the most steadfast upholder of the individualist ethic that not everyone was able to practise the virtues of self-help or to benefit fro m them. Through a combination of what Derek Fraser identifies as podsnappery (I dont want to know about it) and the seemingly infinite capacity of the economy to generate wealth, the real facts of continuing poverty were obscured from a large part of Victorian society until the investigations and statistical proofs from social reformers such as Charles Booth and Seebohm Rowntree garnered gradual acceptance for the notion that poverty was the consequence of complex economic and social factors beyond the control of the individuals. This shift in popular attitude marked the foundation of the modern welfare state in Britain that would take shape throughout the twentieth century under the Labour party. In this paper, I want to argue that the change in attitudes from the idea of pauperism as social inefficiency that could be dealt with privately to poverty as an issue of physical inefficiency that could be solved publicly was a direct result of the failure of self-help to alleviate the pl ight of the working class and the poverty studies spawned in the wake of such a realization by social reformers in the late Victorian and early Edwardian periods. A social philosophy emerged in the beginning of the nineteenth century in response to the explosive economic and social changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution. Between 1820 and 1870, English economic and political thought was overshadowed byà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the Ricardian economic systemà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the Malthusian population theory and Adam Smiths Wealth of Nations (1776).  [6]  A laissez-faire economic policy developed that called for free trade and free economic forces to work within a free market with free competition. The individual was to be allowed to fulfill his true potential unrestricted by the trammels of unnecessary restrictions and regulations which were infringements on his liberty.  [7]  The nature of behaviour in human society was closely related to the economic role performed, and so ideas about the structure and function of society emerged as a social adjunct of economic theory. Laissez-faire society emphasised individualism, utilitarianism, and self-interest. By mid century, the virtues of the capitalist middle class that had produced the calm and prosperity of the second quarter of the nineteenth century were elevated into a moral code for all [that became] almost a religion.  [8]  The social philosophy of Victorianism crystallised into four great tenets: work, thrift, respectability, and above all self-help.  [9]   Self-help became the supreme virtue  [10]  that underpinned Victorian society. The success of England by the time of the Great Exhibition in 1851 was credited with Smiths ideal of individuals pursuing their self-interests. The open, competitive society with its enormous opportunities enabled all to rise by their own talents, unaided by government agency. Man, in the Victorian era, was master of his own fate and could achieve anything given initiative and industry. Samuel Smiles defined self-help in his book of the same title published in 1859 as the root of all genuine growth in the individual  [11]  because it encouraged individuals to work to achieve their full potentials since whatever is done for menà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ to a certain extent takes away the stimulus and necessity of doing for themselves; and where men are subjected to over-guidanceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the inevitable tendency is to render them comparatively helpless.  [12]  Failure to govern oneself appropriately f rom within in order to improve ones situation was a result not of external factors but of internal deficiencies such as moral ignorance, selfishness, and vice.  [13]  Although the self-help ideology was essentially of middle-class origin and application, its impact was society-wide and spread upwards toward the landed aristocracy as well as downward to the property-less and working class.  [14]  Throughout the nineteenth century, self-help became viewed as the best help for the poor and institutions of self-help were developed to assist the working class to educate and ameliorate the lives of the working class. Perhaps the most important of the philanthropic organizations to lift the masses from the depths of despair  [15]  was the Charity Organisation Society (C.O.S.) founded in London in 1869 where poverty was most severe. Aside from promoting and helping the working classes realize self-help, Victorian charity was also guided by a genuine and persistent fear of social revolution that benefactors hoped siphoning  [16]  off some of their wealth avoid. The C.O.S. was a federation of district communities that aimed to harness charitable effort more effectively in tackling the perceived moral causes of social distress  [17]  and impose upon the life of the poor a system of sanctions and rewards which would convince them that there could be no escape from lifes miseries except by thrift, regularity, and hard work.  [18]  The society was a pioneer in developing professional social work but its social philosophy was rigorously traditionalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [and it became] one of the staunchest defenders of the self-help individualist ethic.  [19]  To C. S. Loch, General Secretary of the C.O.S., charity had nothing to do with poverty [but] social inefficiency.'  [20]  The problem was pauperism the failure of a man to sustain himself and his dependants a situation for the pauper was guilty of moral failure, self-indulgence, and complacency because he was ultimately responsible for creating his own circumstances. The solution and mandate of the C.O.S. in the words of Bernard Bosanquet, the main intellectual champion of the charity organisation movement was to awaken the moral potentialà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ in all people'  [21]  and reform the character of the poor by helping individuals understand their own personal strengths in overcoming adverse circumstances. Despite the work of organizations such as the C.O.S. in the 1880s, there was an increased realisation that the environment, social and physical, played a part in determining mens lives that was beyond their control. The C.O.S. acknowledged that men might need charitable help but were convinced that the amount of poverty was limited and could be handled privately without the need for legislation. The accumulated statistical evidence did not yet exist to disprove the societys contention and it was in this ignorance that Charles Booth began his work. Booth, a Liverpool merchant, was concerned about the sensational reporting of individual cases of hardship and wished to ascertain the validity behind the cases through a scientific inquiry.  [22]  He later said, The lives of the poor lay hiddenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ behind a curtain on which were painted terrible pictures: starving children, suffering womenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ giants of disease and despair. Did these pictures truly represent what lay behind, or did they bearà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ a relation similar toà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [the] booth at some county fair?  [23]  To locate the reality of poverty and distinguish between the emotional superstructure and the statistical basis, Booth launched two pilot studies in 1886 in Tower Hamlets, and again in 1887 in East London and Hackney using the latest statistical and quantitative techniques. Over the course of career, he extended his research over all of London and published his results in seventeen volumes between 1889 and 1903 under the title Life and Labour of the People of London. Booth found that almost one-third of the population in London lived at or below the poverty line of 18 to 21 shillings per week for a moderate family.  [24]  About 1.2 million Britons lived above the poverty line and were at all times more or less in want.'  [25]  For contemporaries, Booths conclusion that 30 percent of Londons population lived in poverty confirmed that the problem was far beyond the scope of private charitable benevolence  [26]  and provided the statistical incentive needed for practical solutions. Advancements in parliamentary democracy in late Victorian England gave the population political influence. Gradual enlargement of the franchise meant that numbers were beginning to count, and this fact was not lost on politicians who realised the need to placate voters. Gareth Stedman Jones summarizes the increased attention paid to the fear of the chronically poor that began to emerge in the 1880s as a neglected and exploited class that might retaliate and contaminate civilised London.  [27]  The anxiety which prompted members of the respectable working and middle classes to agitate for government action resulted in a mass of detailed legislation  [28]  which dealt with social problems like public health, education, working conditions, and housing. Socialism, in its broadest sense, as a willingness to consider with favour interventionist policies intended to benefit the masses  [29]  dominated legislation passed after 1880. Socialist organisations, such as the Fabian Soc iety, the Social Democratic Federation, and the Independent Labour Party, exerted tremendous influence on a wide range of domestic political questions and swelled in popularity, eventually producing a Labour government in the beginning of the twentieth century. The British government undertook a markedly more serious role in the public dispensation of aid to the poor beginning in 1886 with the Chamberlain Circular. Following the alarming riots by unemployed London workers on February 8, 1886, Joseph Chamberlain, President of the Local Government Board in Gladstones third Liberal ministry, issued a circular in March to authorise the arrangement for municipal public works to relieve unemployment. After thorough investigations into the plight of the working classes, the Local Government Board, according to Chamberlain, found evidence of much and increasing privation  [30]  making the creation of public works necessary to prevent large numbers of persons [from being] reduced to greatest straits.  [31]  Aside from authorizing the work projects, Chamberlain takes pains to prevent those who truly needed assistance from experiencing the stigma of pauperism  [32]  and to make it as easy as possible for those who do not ordinarily seek p oor law relief  [33]  to receive help. Chamberlain made it clear for municipal governments to respect the spirit of independence  [34]  of the working classes and not to add to their already exceptional distress.  [35]  Chamberlain painstakingly explained to the municipal authorities that the working class were not lazy, but simply unfortunate because of severe weather problems and cyclical economic downturns. He went so far as to praise the habitual practice of the working class to make great personal sacrifices  [36]  than receive government alms. The circular significantly reveals the shifting attitudes in Victorian Britain towards redefining poverty as a result of personal deficiencies to external factors beyond ones control. As a result of revelations made by Booth and a realization that reliance on the notion of self-help is insufficient, Chamberlain cautions authorities from looking down on the poor as not working hard to improve their own situations. Implicit in the circular is an admission that self-help and the charity organizations have failed and the municipal governments must treat the working classes as deserving the greatest sympathy and respect  [37]  because they would help themselves if they could had formidable external factors not made it imperative for the government to step in to alleviate the dilemma of the working classes. The Chamberlain Circular established the principle that unemployment was in the last resort the responsibility of the whole society and was inappropriately dealt with via the Poor Law.  [38]  The spirit of the Chamberlain Circular culminated in the passage of the Unemployed Workmens Act in 1905 that acknowledged that poverty had economic causes and was not necessarily the result of moral degeneracy. At the turn of the century, Seebohm Rowntree, inspired by Booth, conducted a survey of York that revealed almost one-third of the population of York lived in poverty.  [39]  Rowntrees picture of poverty was near enough to Booths to be mutually reinforcing and to suggest that approaching a third of the urban population of the whole country was living in poverty.  [40]  Following in the footsteps of Booth and Rowntree, surveys were conducted throughout Britain and added to the rediscovery of poverty  [41]  that produced social programs such as the Old-Age Pension Act (1908) and the National Insurance Act (1911), which paved the foundation for the modern welfare state in Britain in 1946.  [42]   Late Victorian England was a period of rapid transition and change. Before 1880, self-help was the virtue that supported Victorian social philosophy. Derived from a faith in human nature and its possibilities, Victorian society demanded self-reliance because it deemed that at the root of a persons circumstances laid an almost limitless moral potential which could be aroused to overcome the worst environmental adversity. Pauperism was seen as a moral failure and paupers as social inefficient and morally degenerate people. Leading philanthropic organisations like the C.O.S. held poverty to be the result of self-indulgence and complacency and tried to use charity as a means to create the power of self-help in the poor. Beginning in the 1880s, the reality of the growth of abject poverty in the midst of plenty shocked Victorian society. A generation of self-help had not produced a better life, and work by men like and Rowntree forcibly made society aware of the penury within it. The notio n that poverty could be the result of complex economic and social factors beyond the individuals control became accepted, and with the expansion of the franchise, social welfare became a fundamental response to democratic demand. As working class consciousness developed and as institutions of working class organisations, such as trade unions, formulated labour demands it became increasingly important for governments to respond. The more the poor acquired votes in the wake of suffrage reform, the more domestic issues dominated the political arena. As democracy broadened, so, too, did the working class aspirations for social betterment.

Goals: Goal and Prestigious Law Firm Essay

Every person, no matter their race, gender, or language that they speak, have huge goals that they want to accomplish in life. We spend our lives either receiving a college degree or performing on world tours in the pursuit of happiness and success. In the end, it’s not all about the long term goals but the steps to get me there. My long term goals are to travel, graduate with a master’s degree in Business, and make partner at a prestigious law firm. The ultimate long term goal is to travel to Paris and Antarctica. Paris has always been number one on my bucket list of things to do before I die. Visiting the Penguins in Antarctica is closely behind Paris though. My intermediate personal goal is to get a passport and the expensive tickets that will help me get there. In other words, for my short term personal goal I will be sure to find a job that will help me save the money I need to go on this trip. However, an obstacle could be that when I am doing the process of getting my passport I might be missing papers, or it will take time to get them. The possible solutions are that I go and get all of my paperwork that I might be missing or that I pay the fee that they request in the case it takes too long to receive it. Without education there’s limited ways to achieve success. My long term goal is receiving my master’s degree in Business is my long term academic goal. Furthermore, my intermediate goal is to graduate from Valencia. Education is really important to me and graduating will also point me in the right direction of working towards my career goals. My short-term academic goal is to finish this semester with A’s in all of my courses. Procrastination could be a huge obstacle that I will definitely have to work on. Planning ahead and maintaining my free time is two possible solutions to this problem. To make partner at a prestigious law firm is my long term career goal. I’ve wanted to become a lawyer since I could start to think for myself. My intermediate career goal is to get my security license. This is not a short term goal because it may take up to seven months or longer to acquire. This job would be great because I’ll be getting paid to keep the peace and protect innocent civilians. At the moment, I am employed by Barnes and Noble on the UCF campus. This is a good job but my short term career goal is to find a job that pays better than this job. A larger income would assist greatly with my living and educational expenses. In conclusion, all of my goals, either short term or long term, have an equal effect on my life. This paper has helped me put my goals in order. Before I wrote this essay, I had no clue about what I wanted to do in the future. Now, I have more of an idea of where I want to go in life and the small steps to get to the very much wanted long term goal: Happiness.

Teamwork And The Workplace Increasing Job Satisfaction

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Obesity Is Weight That Is Higher - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1299 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2019/03/22 Category Health Essay Level High school Tags: Obesity Essay Obesity in America Essay Did you like this example? Obesity is weight that is higher than what is being consider health weight and that is given by the persons height. Too much weight can take a toll on your body and heart. We can take the proper steps to get healthier and beat obesity. BMI or Body Mass Index is a tool that establishes between health weight (a healthy BMI ranges from 17.5-25 kg/n2) and overweight/obesity and indicates body fatness; even though it doesnt measure body fat directly. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Obesity Is Weight That Is Higher" essay for you Create order The way that the BMI works is; a persons weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters. I would like for the American people to look around and acknowledge that obesity really is an issue; that we should be conscious of what we are doing to our bodies and what we are consuming. Prevalence of obesity was ranging at 39.8 percent; affecting about 93.3 million of adults. 18.5 percent in youth in the United States in 2015-2016. The prevalence of obesity in 2015-2016 was 35.7 percent among young adults aged 20-39 years, while 42 percent among middle-aged adults ages ranging from 40-59 years, as well as, ages 60 and older with 41 percent. The prevalence of obesity among race and ethnicity was that non-Hispanic Asian adults was ranging at 12.7 percent lower than other groups, Hispanics were ranging at 47% and non-Hispanic black at 46.8 percent; which was at a higher prevalence of obesity compared to non-Hispanic white adults who ranged at 37.9 percent. The prevalence of obesity was higher among youth aged 6â€Å"11 years (18.4%) and adolescents aged 12â€Å"19 years (20.6%) compared with children aged 2â€Å"5 years (13.9%). The annual estimated costs for obesity in the U.S. was $147 billion in 2008 and the estimated cost for people who were obese was 1,429 higher than those of normal weight. In the article Ault Obesity Facts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, stated that men and women that have college degrees have lower obesity prevalence compared to those who have had less education. The pattern was seen among non-Hispanic white and Hispanic men. With women the pattern was observed among non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic Asian, and Hispanic. There was no difference in obesity prevalence because of income with non-Hispanic black women. There are no definite answers as to what is driving Americas chronic weight problem. In the article, Obesity in America, on publichealth.org states, Scientific studies reach conflicting conclusions which lead to many theories that are out there, but evidence points to the two causes most people already suspect; too much food and too little exercise. People are having bigger portions of food than compared to 1950 and 1983. World Health Organization states that Americans are notorious for their fast-food consumption, which makes up or about 11% of the average American diet. Fast food sales correlate to the rise in BMI. Added sugars from soda and energy drinks are wreaking havoc on American waistlines. We have to watch what we are eating and how much of it. Most food companies are just swapping hydrogenated oils and sugars in for the animal fats they removed from low-fat products. Hydrogenated oils carry high levels of trans-fats, which raises the bad cholesterol, lower the good cholesterol, of course, raise the risks of developing diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Having low calorie intake can result in high quantities of sugar disrupts the metabolism which then causes surges in insulin and energy level and ultimately contributes to weight gain and diabetes. Americans are spending more time at work than at home in our kitchens unlike people did in a different era. We sometimes pack our lunch boxes with the fastest thing we find like packaged food or a leftover. Not all low-fats and fat-free products are good because they can contain a lot of sugar and unhealthy ingredients such as low-fat sweetened cereals, low-fat flavored coffee drinks, low-fat dressing and so on. Its not just about how much we eat; its also about what we eat. About 20 billion dollars are spent annually on weight loss schemes such as diet books, pills, lap-bands and liposuction. The lack of exercise seems to be the new norm and is also a major culprit in the obesity epidemic. Workplace is cited as a new source for the rise of obesity because majority of the working people sit throughout the working day, people would be working in the fields or on factory floors which leads to less exercise. In 1960, the physical activity in the labor market was accounted for 50 percent and has plummeted to 20 percent, the other 80 percent of jobs are light activity. In 1960, one of two Americans held a job that was physically active and now its estimated that one out of five Americans achieves a relatively high level of physical activity at work. According to the published Wednesday in the journal PLos One, by Tara Paker-Pope, the shift translates to an average decline of 120 to 140 calories a day in a physical activity, closely matching the nations steady weight gain over the past five decades. It looks like not only is food a factor, but our work environment as well. Obe sity comes along with complications. By losing weight we can decrease the risks of heart disease, diabetes, cancer. Risk factors like high blood pressure, plasma glucose, breathing issues, gallbladder disease, gynecological problems such as infertility and sleep apnea. Other risks include erectile dysfunction and osteoarthritis. Losing the weight can help lower the total cholesterol, triglycerides, raise the good cholesterol, and prevent the complications. Our Metabolic system improves when people who are overweight loss about 10 percent of their body weight. Changing our diets, adding physical activity, medication, surgery are ways that can help America become healthier. Generics also are a contributing factor because it can affect the way and the amount of body fat that is stored in an individuals body. If it runs in the family, it is likely that the individual is in risk of increase for obesity. Not just genetically speaking, but because family members tend to share similar eating and activity habits. Medical issues are also a factor of obesity. Having arthritis, Prader-Willi Syndrome, Cushings syndrome, and among other conditions can lead to a decrease in physical activity. Which then leads to weight gain/obesity. We can be a role model for our children, if our children see that the parent have good eating habits and participate in physical activity, chances are that they will likely do the same. We can encourage physical activity, reduce time with electronics, to eat only when hungry and to eat slowly, avoiding using food as reward or punishment, having fresh fruit and vegetables, reducing beverages that contain sugar. Preventing obesity can be prevented by eating five to six servings of fruits and vegetables daily, choosing whole grain food, weight and measure food to gain understanding of portion sizing, balancing the food, avoid food that are high in energy density, and exercise. Keeping weight off is hard, we lose it and we gain it back but having a good support system can help. Non-rigorous exercise can help keep the weight down. Works Cited Hales CM, Carroll MD, Fryar CD, Ogden CL. Prevalence of obesity among adults and youth: United States, 2015â€Å"2016. NCHS data brief, no 288. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2017. Ogden CL, Fakhouri TH, Carroll MD, et al. Prevalence of Obesity among Adults, by Household Income and Education † United States, 2011â€Å"2014. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2017;66:1369â€Å"1373. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6650a1 PARKER-POPE, TARA. Workplace Cited as a New Source of Rise in Obesity. The New York Times, The New York Times, 26 May 2011, www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/health/nutrition/26fat.html?pagewanted=all_r=2mtrref=undefined. Extreme Obesity, And What You Can Do. About Heart Attacks, www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/losing-weight/extreme-obesity-and-what-you-can-do. Obesity Causes. Stanford Health Care (SHC) Stanford Medical Center, stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-conditions/healthy-living/obesity/causes.html.