34134YuNoHaHoDe36EvenTheWelfareSystemWasOriginally
Q&@
PLANNED
IN THE INTEREST OF THE NATION
RATHER THAN OF NEEDY INDIVIDUALS!
When Otto von Bismarck pioneered state pensions
and social security in late 19th-century Germany, his chief aim
was to ensure the loyalty of the citizens rather than to increase their well-being.
You were obliged to fight for your country when you were 18, and paid your taxes
when you were 40, because you counted on the state to take care of you when you were 70!
In 1776 the Founding Fathers of the United States established the right to the pursuit of happiness
as one of three unalienable human rights, alongside the right to life & the right to liberty? It's important
to note, however, that the American Declaration of Independence guaranteed the right to THE PURSUIT OF
happiness, nòt the right to happiness itself! Crucially, Thomas Jefferson did nòt make the state responsible for
its citizens' happiness. Rather, he sought only to limit the power of the state. The idea was to reserve for in-
dividuals a private sphere of choice, free from state supervision?! If I think I'll be happier marrying John
rather than Mary, living in San Francisco rather than Salt Lake City, and working as a bartender rather
than a dairy farmer, then it's my right to pursue happiness my way, and the state shouldn't intervene
even if I make the wròng chòice!? Yet over the last few decades the tables
have turned, & Bentham's vision has been taken far more seriously...
People increasingly believe that the ìmmènse systems established
more than a century ago to strengthen the nation should actually
serve the happiness & well-being of individual
citizens!! WE ARE NOT HERE
TO SERVE THE STATE -
ìt ìs here
to serve
ùs.
Asih, man, 79 jaar
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