At the beginning of the course we
were asked to think about the greatest injustice that was done unto us. I
shared my story about my dad losing his job after being diagnosed and treated
for a malignant brain tumor and struggling between finding a job that didn’t
view him as a liability issue and not being able to qualify for disability
because he wasn’t “sick enough”. That brought on the debate about whether it’s
more unjust for someone to abuse the welfare and disability system or for
someone who needs it to not be able to receive it. So when we began discussing
Mill’s Utilitarianism and his views on injustice, one of his six points stood
out to me the most. Specifically, his point about it being unjust to not give
someone what they rightly deserve. I agree with Mill on this aspect of his
philosophy, because I believe it is more unjust for those who need and deserve
welfare and disability to not receive it.
I understand and agree with the counter
argument that people who don’t work and don’t assume responsibility for
themselves shouldn’t be able to abuse the welfare and disability system, but it
is so much more important to consider the people who do work hard their whole
lives, most often at more than one job, to be able to provide opportunities for
themselves and their family and sometimes just need a little help to get by.
Who are we to deny them that help? My dad worked hard his whole life; Why
should he, and others like him, be denied disability just because of that small
percentage who abuse it?
The
other day I was leaving Target and was approached by a woman in her thirties
with a stroller, 9 month old baby included, and she proceeded to share her
story about her recent struggles with escaping a bad marriage and moving her
and her four children from Mississippi to Memphis. She apologized profusely for
bothering me and was clearly embarrassed to be in the situation that she was
in, but she had started a job at Sports Authority and did not have enough food,
gas, and diapers to last her until her first paycheck. I offered to get her
what she needed, namely baby formula, diapers, and food for the time being. As
I was coming back out she was talking to a middle aged woman in her Mercedes
convertible who, instead of just giving her a couple dollars that she could
clearly spare, was giving her advice as to where the nearest homeless shelter
was. I understand where this woman is coming from, but it’s people like her
that encourage this unequal system of redistribution that denies people like
the mother needing a little help to last her until her paycheck what they
rightly deserve. If Mill was approached by this same woman, do you think he’d
help her out or tell her to take responsibility for herself?
It's hard to say what Mill would do. I think that he would probably see the idea oh her taking responsibility of herself and going to a shelter or some place to be educated on programs for her situation as a higher pleasure begin fulfilled that in the long run would probably better preserve her life as well as the lives of her children. Although it may seem harsh, she would be getting better help from someone trained to be able to educate, empower, as well as physically help those who need it. Unless there was a way by which giving her the money would forever end the cycle of her needing to ask for it, I think Mill would see the alternative to finding a place where she can be educated in such a way to end the cycle would be for the best.
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