Monday, February 14, 2005
LEGALISED PROSTITUTION AND THE CASE FOR A CATCH-ALL WELFARE PAYMENT
I was a little clueless in
a recent posting
about how to solve the dilemma of having legalised prostitution and still have a welfare to work programme. Over at No Blood for Sauerkraut there has been a little debate about this problem with some interesting ponts raised. Paul13 reminded me of this idea, about having a single-type payment paid out to all citizens, irrespective of circumstances. I had vaguely, in my new year predictions for 2004 hinted at my interest in:
I was a little clueless in
a recent posting
about how to solve the dilemma of having legalised prostitution and still have a welfare to work programme. Over at No Blood for Sauerkraut there has been a little debate about this problem with some interesting ponts raised. Paul13 reminded me of this idea, about having a single-type payment paid out to all citizens, irrespective of circumstances. I had vaguely, in my new year predictions for 2004 hinted at my interest in:
a welfare reform that would replace the over-complicated and useless current system with a single type benefit
. I’m not entirely sure about the costing, but such a system would have two great advantages. Firstly, it would make it possible to cut out the wasteful and ineffective bureaucracy that currently hobbles the administration of welfare pay-outs. Secondly, and this somewhat closer to my heart, it would make it possible to roll back the state and get government a little bit more out of our everyday lives.
Update: Just remembered this idea was endorsed by Alan Duncan in Saturn’s Children. I’ll go and check that out again and post on this as soon as I get round to it.
Another Update: I had already developed an interest in this idea when I was politically wired slightly differently, and I remember it was advocated by Erich Fromm, I think in the Sane Society, but memory is rather hazy right now.
Labels: economy, nation, society
