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Social Security And Utilitarianism

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Social Security is a government system that gives financial assistance to individuals who have low income, or none. In the United States, the Social Security Act was signed into office by Franklin Roosevelt in 1935. In addition to those who have inadequate or no income, the act also allows individuals who are retired, disabled, or unemployed to collect benefits as well. There are more than 60 million people in the United States alone that collect social security, and we are lagging relative to other countries as is. The allocation of social security across America is done through the government. Everybody pays a certain amount of money to the government through taxes that is then redistributed to them when they retire, file for a disability, …show more content…

Utilitarianism holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong in proportion that they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. Happiness is defined by pleasure and the absence of pain, and unhappiness is defined by pain and the lack of pleasure (Mill, 5). Pleasure and the lack of unhappiness are the only two aspects that are desirable as ends and inherently good. A significance in Mill’s definition of utilitarianism is what it is not. It is not psychologically measurable on a same scale but has different qualities and that those with more experience can determine what pleasures are higher than others. There is ultimately a sanction that make us as individuals feel like we should be held accountable if we break the philosophy. The inherent accountability could be applied to many other moral philosophies, and there are both internal and external sanctions. External sanctions come from other people through various means such as disapproval. There are also internal sanctions that come from our own mind such as feeling remorse for violating an obligation. Both the external and internal sanctions can affect our actions, but our internal sanctions are more powerful (Mill, 19-20). Utilitarianism, as explained by James Rachels, proves an important lesson in that the rightness of actions are considerations having to do with the future. Due to utilitarianisms exclusive concern with consequences, it has us restrict our attention to what would happen because of our actions (Rachels, 108). These ideas and perspectives on utilitarianism will serve a great purpose as to how privatizing social security serves to be immoral. If we are to privatize security, not only would we increase pain and suffering, but these actions that we make would carry on through the future by creating the pain and suffering for those who highly depend on and benefit from

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The Social Security Act was the foundation of America’s welfare system, as it created unemployment insurance, created a retirement benefits program for the elderly, and created Aid to Dependent Children. These programs, however, required funding that came from every American’s paycheck. This did not sit well with Goldwater, who thought that people should “be free throughout their lives to spend their earnings when and as they see fit,” and believed that if the government was going to create programs that did not meet the Constitution’s standards, then they were not entitled to the taxes they need from the American people (12). Goldwater saw taxation as a burden on the individual American citizen, and therefore did not support the welfare acts, like Social Security, that required it. Consequently, he emphasized that “the current results of New Deal legislation,” or the “Federal disbursements for human welfare,” were “second only to national defense” in amount of money spent (48).

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Social Security is a federal insurance program that provides benefits to retired people and also those who are unemployed or disabled. Social Security consists of three programs retirement, disability and survivors. Social security is funded by a payroll tax. According to the article “How is Social Security Financed” the payroll tax makes the employers and employees each pay 6.2 percent of wages, while the self-employed pay 12.4 percent. This payroll tax is deducted from an employee’s paycheck.

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Consequentialism is defined as the actions that should be more evaluated on the basis of the consequences. However, it’s the results from that particular consequence that actually strikes a nerve. In the mindset of utilitarian’s consequences focus on the happiness and pleasure of that particular end result. The understanding that the consequences are so good that it outweighs the negativity; maximizing happiness for all. However, for people such as Bernard Williams we shouldn’t regard consequences as happiness or pleasure for the multitude of people, but rather the happiness within ourselves.

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Charles Fusco, Federal Writers’ Project interview in which he offers his perspective on the New Deal, “Roosevelt Is a ‘Damned Good Man’” says, “This social security measure gives some protection to 30 million of our citizens who will receive direct benefits through unemployment compensation, through old-age pensions, and through increased services for the protection of children and the prevention of ill health.” “It will act as a protection to future Administrations against the necessity of going deeply into debt to help the needy. It is, in short, a law that will take care of human needs and at the same time provide the United States with a sound economic structure”(SQ 3, E). Social security was very important to the Success of the New Deal. The text says, “Social security was a piece of this change, signaling Americans viewed the government as responsible for ensuring that older Americans would live decent lives.

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Writing Assignment I The Social Security Act, legalized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935, provides government aid for unemployed Americans over the age of 65. The Social Security poster, which is a primary source, offers knowledge on how to sign up, who is eligible, and more. President Roosevelt created Social Security after the Great Depression. It was issued to insure that Americans had consistent income after retirement.

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Christopher, Greed was differently the driving factor of the imbalance between the wealthy and the common people. Social Security definitely did help the economy. When those of age 65 and over would retire, it would lead to job positions opening up, which led to new people being hired. It wasn’t really new demand, as younger people would replace the older ones. When people would receive their pension check it wasn’t very much.

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As a line of moral reasoning, utilitarianism appears in many instances to enter questionable territory with regard to its imperatives about acts that a deontologist might designate as inherently immoral. While it is worth noting that in many cases this theory works well, the fact that the cardinal, ideological pillar behind it, The Greatest Happiness Principle, allows for the commission of seemingly immoral acts in certain cases, raises immediate and pressing objections among many people. These morally controversial decisions can range in severity from taking away a child’s ice cream cone to the murderous quandary that was introduced in Williams’ paper; utilitarianism states that if there are benefits at stake, these situations are one and the same: no matter how drastic the measure, the action that results in the most happiness for the most people is the morally right one. This line of thought brings about the concept of a negative duty that results from the fulfillment of some positive duties in such situations; for example, if one were to

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Utilitarian Summaries Mill’s theory of Utilitarianism is based off the Greatest Happiness Principle, which states that actions are considered moral when they promote good or the happiness of oneself or others and immoral when they promote the reverse affect. Mill continued to direct this statement towards the concept of pain and pleasure. People often base their personal happiness on the presence of pleasure and the absence of pain. Mills discusses pleasure and the root of pleasure to mankind. When discussing pleasure in humans, it is not always a matter of simply the presence of that pleasure but often the question remains quality vs. quantity.

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After an amendment in 1940 to include survivors’ benefits, disability benefits, health care benefits and cost of living raises, monthly payments were started. Ida May Fuller, of Ludlow, Vermont was the first recipient of monthly payments in the amount of $22.54. Since its inception Social Security was looked at as a stable, reliable, income for everyone as they approached their retirement years. However, the Social Security program of today faces many problems and while there is no perfect solution, there are things that can be done by our politicians to ensure the continuation of America’s retirement

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According to Mill, “acts should be classified as morally right or wrong only if the consequences are of such significance that a person would wish to see the agent compelled, not merely persuaded, and exhorted, to act in a preferred matter. A moralist can sum up the units of pleasure and the units of pain for everyone likely to be affected, immediately and in the future, and could take the balance as a measure of the overall good or evil tendency of an action” (West). The moral value of an action can be based on what is called hedonism. This says the only thing can be good is pleasure or happiness. Utilitarianism shows how moral questions can have objectively true answers.

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Nevertheless, this utopian image which has been painted by numerous politicians and philosophers is being challenged by economists who are concerned with the costs of such a policy. Tanner highlights the fact that in the United States alone, the implementation of a universal basic income would amount to an estimated $4.4 trillion. Even by replacing all existing welfare system, they would still be $2.5 trillion short. The lack of capital will be directly transferred onto the citizens in form of substantial tax increases. In consequence, despite the fact that a guaranteed minimum revenue si the key to solving major issues theoretically, it would not be accurate to state that it could easily be implemented in the real world.

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Every time a baby is born in the U.S. they are given a social security number. This number will continue to be important until the day that they die. Young people often do not know the importance of Social Security except the fact that it is used often for identification purposes. In recent years there has been a lot of talk surrounding the Social Security system and the current crisis that it is facing. Of course there are many possible solutions to combat this crisis, but none without their faults.

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Definition Social Welfare Policy alludes to both objectives of aggregate obligations and to an arrangement of administrations for completing those duties. Social Welfare Policy is a set of laws and managerial guidelines that characterize the reasons for open social welfare also, approve associations to move in the direction of achievement of those reasons. Instance of social welfare in the United States consolidates Medicare, Medicaid, impermanent help for poverty stricken families, sustenance points of interest and section 8 lodging or housing assistance. Diverse undertakings, for instance, experts pay, unemployment assurance and Social Security points of interest are in like manner seen as social welfare programs.

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Consequentialism is a theory stating morality is dependent on an action’s outcomes; the most noteworthy example of this theory is utilitarianism. Consequentialism is contested as critics find it overdemanding for application on the virtue of its extensiveness in the individual’s life and reliance on unpredictable consequences, and due to the depth of logic override necessary to maximise happiness in some situations. Rebuttals have been made, and in this essay, I will explain the principles of consequentialism and utilitarianism and argue that the refutations are unsuccessful. Consequentialists, as aforementioned, strive to create best overall consequences for the largest amount of people. Moral agents must aim to maximise happiness and minimise pain.

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John Stuart Mill, at the very beginning of chapter 2 entitled “what is utilitarianism”. starts off by explaining to the readers what utility is, Utility is defined as pleasure itself, and the absence of pain. This leads us to another name for utility which is the greatest happiness principle. Mill claims that “actions are right in proportions as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.” “By Happiness is intended pleasure and the absence of pain, by happiness, pain and the privation of pleasure”.

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