Problems of the Welfare State

Stress

Stress is the normal response of your body to any change. It can be either positive or negative. Many people perform best when they are under pressure and when the challenge has been met they relax and enjoy their achievements.

Stress becomes negative when one can't relax after meeting the challenge. The most common cause of stress is negative thinking.

Some stress factors could be:

Chronic negative stress may lead to serious health-related problems:

Physically, we experience such things as headaches, neck and back pains, sleeping problems, loss of appetite.

Emotionally, we become irritable, moody, impatient, over-sensitive, anxious, and we have trouble with memory and concentration.

Our behaviour changes too. We may turn more often to alcohol, drugs and coffee.

We are also more prone to sickness.

Some "recipes" for dealing with stress could be:

Racism

Racism is any action involving a distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on colour, descent, religion, national or ethnic origin. Racism exists as systems of domination and oppression. The violence becomes part of regular practice and then slips into invisibility.

Some of the most important causes of discord and strife are:

minorities (for example lesbian, homosexual, handicapped persons)

Development in the evolution of racism

The racial superiority began around the 16^th century. Especially in the United States of America, where slavery was the precursor to racism.

The institutionalization of racial supremacy through the creation of discriminatory laws began in the 17^th Century. By 1705 Africans were relegated to the status of property. Africans came to be known as black or Negro, black and slave became synonymous, and whiteness was born.

casual killing of black slaves became legal in 1669

interracial marriage became punishable by law in 1705

With the civil war came the end of legal slavery, but shortly after this brief period of relative equality a backlash came:

reign of terror

racial segregation in schools and churches

racial prerequisites in immigration

The Civil Rights Movement of 1950's and 60's challenged again white supremacy, but again there was a backlash.

Today there are still inequities. These inequities are reflected in infant mortality rates and life expectancy.

Immigration

The British Society has been formed of different nations like the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons, the Scandinavians or the Normans. All these people influenced England's political and social institutions and the language too. Before England was invaded by the Romans, Celtic tribes had settled in Britain. These tribes still live in Ireland, Scotland or Wales and are well-known for their strong sense of national identity and their own way of life.

Then, during the Middle Ages Jews, Lombards, Flemings and Huguenots came from Europe, often seeking refuge from religious or political persecution. Each of these groups brought new skills and a new way of living into the adopted country. During the time of colonization a lot of African and Indian servants were brought to England. This resulted in several thousand black people working as domestics by the end of the 18^th century.

At the beginning of the 20^th century poor migrants from Eastern Europe arrived. This was the reason for the installation of immigration controls. Later refugees came from Russia, Germany and Spain fleeing from political unrest and persecution. Many of these made their permanent home there.

In the late 1940'ies a new group came to Britain, citizens of the former British Empire, like people from the West Indies, West Africa and the Indian sub-continent. The main reason for the move to England, was the wish to live in the "mother country" and to profit from the better standard of living there. They were needed as workers in the post-war reconstruction period.

Nowadays nearly three million "black" people live in the UK. The majority of them are British citizens, half of them are born in Britain. One can distinguish between two main groups: the Afro-Carribeans and people of Asian origin. The Afro-Carribeans are well represented in sport, music and of course arts and fashion. The Asian population tends to work in business. Increasingly Asians are going to professions like medicine and law as well as journalism and broadcasting. They are also getting more active in local government and political life. One should not forget that life for the black British is not always easy. Many of them face bad living conditions, like unemployment, crime and they live in run down residential areas, which makes their life more and more difficult. Also they have to deal with discrimination and racial harassment. A lot of the black British had to and still have experience what prejudice and racism means. They are often victims of violence and aggression.

The UK has itself never regarded as a melting pot, but over the centuries the various different population groups have been accepted. By now the situation has slightly improved. If questioned, most people would accept the immigrants of the last 50 years with a place and a role within the society. They are willing to show their respect to their culture and beliefs, also they are quite grateful for their influence and their special way of living.

UK immigration legislation since 1905

Rich and poor countries

The worldwide family of nations is often divided into developed or industrialized, developing and less-developed countries. Another way of referring to the economic and social differences between the countries of the world is to talk about the North and the South. In theory the world actually produces more than enough food. But famine still affects the people of a country or a whole geographical region because not enough food is available when and where it is wanted.

The lack of adequate food supplies may be the result of crop failure resulting from natural disasters or wars. Changes in climate conditions, soil exhaustion or erosion, natural disasters like drought and floods, as well as pests can reduce harvests.

Usually there are emergency stocks of food, but, sadly it often happens that food stocks are available, but at a price that no one can afford to pay.

The gap between 1^st and 3^rd world

Nowadays famine has to do with access to foodstuffs, but formerly when the less developed countries were run by colonial powers, cash corps were raised. One took nearly 30% for agricultural purpose and exported commodities such as cotton, sugar, cocoa, coffee or groundnuts. Also the colonial powers improved the facilities like road and rail links, markets and administrative centres, not for the people within the country but for exporting the goods to first world countries.

Another disaster for the less developed countries is that the prices of their few commodities have been declining and the prices of the goods they are importing, like oil, machines or manufactured goods, have gone up. So these countries ran up to considerable debts. Financial institutions decided to make further loans and encouraged the less developed countries to export more. That had the effect that less land was devoted to food production and so people often run out of food and can't obtain the necessary supplies.

We must limit war to limit hunger

One should not forget that nowadays a primary cause for hunger is war. If a farmer has to fight against political enemies, no one will take care of his fields and crops. Markets are closed and the roads, needed for delivering the goods, are blocked. Unfortunately one has to say that more people die from starvation and its consequences than from fighting in war. But its not only a problem of the populations. Governments take action in wars, spend their money on weapons and soldiers rather than on agriculture, education or welfare and thus contribute to worsen the living standards in their countries.

Humanitarian aid and development initiatives

One cannot deny that people in rich countries are willing to help and many people do this by supporting humanitarian aid agencies. But there are a lot of problems concerning these projects. Maybe when the local circumstances or the immediate needs are taken too less into account. One should not forget that one may destroy a lot by disrupting traditional patterns of life or disturbing delicate ecological balances, so one should be informed very well about the country, where such a project is planned to be realized. The best types of projects are small-scale or tailor-made projects, that offer more hope for the future. They very well-known British charity Oxfam has sponsored a water conservation scheme in the Sahel area, but there are some difficulties like the distribution of food in the Sahel, due to missing infrastructure. Another main problem is the undernourishment attributing to the lack of foodstuffs like vegetables, fruit or meat. Also Oxfam finds it important to support educational projects, training and civil engineering.