Poverty Analyzed through Neo-Liberalism and Conservatism Ideologies - Research Paper Example

Poverty Analyzed through Neo-Liberalism and Conservatism Ideologies Poverty is one social problem that has troubled the world since time immemorial. According to the United Nations, poverty is the incapacity to enjoy opportunities and make choices which denies the individual the capacity to effectively take part in society (Gordon, 2005). Generally, experts agree that poverty is the state that one is in when they lack a certain amount of money or material belongings (Betson& Warlick, 1998). When an individual lacks basic human needs including food, shelter, clothing, education, water, sanitation, education, and healthcare they are said to be living in absolute poverty. On the other hand, an individual can be relatively poor by virtue of the fact that they do not posses or own as much as the average people in their society or location. Statistics indicate that close to half of the population of the world (more than three billion people) live in poverty by the mere fact that they live on less than 2.50 USD a day as noted by Shah (2013). Statistics also indicate that one in every two children in the world live in poverty (Shah, 2013). Economists, sociologists and other experts note that poverty has several causes and effects and that some of these causes and effects are cyclic in nature. In other words, some of the causes of poverty lead to certain effects and some effects of poverty are the very same causes of poverty. Some of the causes of poverty include: disease, famine, lack of education, disasters, floods, unemployment, overpopulation, racial/ethnic discrimination, poor economic structures, physical or mental disability, and fraud, to mention but a few. Effects of poverty include poor health, homelessness, malnutrition, and lack of education among others. This paper will analyze poverty in light of conservatism and neo-liberalism political ideologies. A Summary of Conservatism Conservatism is a social and political doctrine that promotes or emphasizes retaining traditional social institutions. In other words, socialism assigns great value to traditional practices and institutions. In this respect, conservatism assigns preference to whatever it is that is inherited historically as opposed to what is new, ideal, or abstract. Conservatism is founded on the premise that society is a living organism that is made up of closely connected individuals who depend on one another as opposed to it being merely a loose collection people. Traditionalists or conservatives always emphasize on preserving things as they are and believe that this is the way to go if stability and continuity have to be maintained. This being the case, conservatives ascribe to no single set of policies that is universal to them. To this end, conservatism is dependent on what is known to be traditional at given time and place. What this basically means is that conservatives from different places may agree or disagree with one another over different issues depending on their respective traditions. The history of conservatism can be traced back to 1815 when the policies of the French revolution were subject to a roll back in what is popularly known as the Bourbon restoration period. It is, however, François-René de Chateaubriand, an ardent supporter of the Bourbon monarchy who is credited with coining the term conservatism in 1818. Although the term was used by politicians in Britain and the United States thereafter, it is Edmund Burke who actually first articulated the ideals of conservatism (boundless.com, 2014). In his article Reflections on the Revolution in France published in 1790, the author expressed the views of conservatives in respect of the French Revolution. More specifically, the article expressed the conservatives’ vehement rejection of the French Revolution (Riley, 1990). In the view of the conservatives as expressed by Burke, the violence and untraditional methods that characterized the French revolution far outweighed the revolution and, in fact, corrupted its ideals. Ideally, the revolution was meant to be geared toward liberating the French. By taking a strong stance against the violence that characterized the revolution, the conservatives got a chance to restore the traditions that existed before it (the revolution). Alternatively stated, conservatism emerged in opposition to liberalism which in effect challenged the values and principles of the day as well as the authority of religious leaders and monarchs (Riley, 1990). Conservatism is basically characterized by its opposition to radicalism and liberalism according to Riley (1990). In this respect, conservatives tend to reject the notion that social and political change can lead to the moral improvement of humans. While liberals are more optimistic about human nature and society, conservatives hold the belief that by nature, human are influenced by their desires and passions. Because humans are driven by their desires and passions, conservatives note that they are naturally inclined to be selfish, irrational, authoritarian, and violent. They further believe that it is traditional institutions (cultural or political) that have the capacity to deal with these natural, destructive habits. Conservatives hold the notion that different institutions and organizations should teach people about the value of self discipline and that those who cannot practice the virtue should be subject to discipline by the government. In essence, what this means is that conservatism is founded on the premise that liberty is subject to abuse and ethical behavior will be thrown to the trash bin for as long as the restraining power of traditional institutions and authorities are not in action. A Summary of Neo-Liberalism Neoliberalism basically suggests the revival of liberalism. It is a political ideology that is descended from liberalism proper although the two are different in several aspects (Harvey, 2005). As a political ideology, neoliberalism advocates for free trade, open markets, deregulation and economic liberalizations. The philosophy that emerged in the 1930s also advocates for privatization and private sector participation in society as noted by Harvey (2005). The political philosophy came about when liberal scholars in Europe made attempts to find a middle way between two conflicting philosophies. The conflicting philosophies in this respect were collectivist central planning and classical liberalism. Harvey (2005) notes that the European scholars took this direction in their attempt to avoid the repetition of the failures that their economies witnessed during the early 30s. The failures were then blamed on uncontrolled capitalism. While classical liberalism was based upon the doctrine of laissez-faire (loosely translated to “let them do as they will”), neoliberalism promotes a market economy (Harvey, 2005). The market economy advocated for by neoliberals was so arranged that a strong state makes guidelines and rules which players have to abide by. In this respect, the neoliberal though presses for a social market economy. Neoliberalism underwent a transformation and re-emerged in the 70s with the realization by capitalists that their profits were sinking and that there was need to revive economic liberalism (Harvey, 2005). In this respect, neoliberalism includes cutting public expenditure dedicated to social services, wide scale deregulation, privatization, the elimination of public good and market liberalization as noted by Plant (2009). Neoliberalism in its current form has been associated with negative connotations for its radical ideals. In relation to cutting expenditure on social services such as healthcare and education, neoliberals believe that the government’s role in society should be so reduced that the poor should barely have a safety net in as much as they are not opposed to such things as tax benefits and subsidies (Martinez & Garcia, 2013). They further believe that deregulation should be practiced to the extent that business profits will not be reduced (Plant, 2009). In other words, the government should deregulate the business and political environments so that it should lay off its hands in such matters as safety at work and environmental conservation. In regard to privatization, neoliberals believe that the government has almost no business owning enterprises. In this regard, businesses, services, and goods owned by the state should be sold to private investors so that the businesses can be managed more efficiently (Martinez & Garcia, 2013). In as much as greater efficiency may be cited as the reason behind the call to privatize entities, the effect has always been the concentration of wealth in fewer hands and higher prices for goods and services to the public. Comparison between Policies Beveloped by Neoliberals and Conservatives Conservatives often oppose the views of radicals and liberal in respect of rationalist blue prints arguing that by nature, societies are extremely complex. They are so complex that there is no predictable and dependable connection between what happens in reality as a consequence of what governments try to do. To this end, they believe that governments should desist from interfering with economic and social realities such as by trying to control prices, rents, and wages. Conservatism is equally opposed to the establishment of national banks, corporate subsidies, environmental regulation, and business regulation as noted by Riley (1990). Conservatives believe that people can come out of their situations of poverty by having a positive attitude, good education, and with some help. This being the case, they are bound to support investment in education and social welfare. For example, conservatives may develop policies that are geared toward free and universal basic education. Conservatives will also develop policies geared to the establishment of social welfare systems such as medicare, Medicaid, community schools and colleges, and retirement benefit programs. Taking note that one of the factors that drive young girls to live in poverty for the rest of their lives is early pregnancy, conservatives will tend to develop policies that are focused on the girl child and particularly their sexual health. Conservatives believe that one of the main causes of poverty is lack of jobs. In relation to this, they are bound to develop policies that favor less taxation of the wealthy and middle class based on the argument that it is the wealthy and middle class people who create more jobs through the businesses that they own. When they are taxed more and more, the wealthy and middle class are brought down to the extent that they cannot create more jobs. As a result, the level of unemployment increases and more people remain poor. Neoliberalism in its present state disrespects the concept of public good and favors individual responsibility instead (Martinez & Garcia, 2013). In this regard, neoliberals believe that the poor in society are responsible for their state and that they should find for themselves solutions to problems that they face. In this respect, the poor should find solutions to such problems as lack of education, social security, and healthcare (Martinez & Garcia, 2013). If they cannot find solutions to their problems, the neoliberals tag them as lazy and blame them. Neoliberalism is also founded on the notion that the rule of the market should prevail whatever the cost (Martinez & Garcia, 2013). To this effect, businesses and organizations should be so free from government control irrespective of how much the society may end up suffering. Similarly, international trade and investment should be open and should not be restricted by government. The effect of this is complete freedom in the movement of goods, services and capital. Negative effects of neoliberalism to this effect include the de-unionization of workers, the disrespect of workers rights and the elimination of price controls as noted by Martinez and Garcia (2013). Neoliberals are more concerned about problems that face the whole society as opposed to those that affect individuals or a section of society. This being the case, they will not have policies that are geared toward solving the problem of poverty. In fact, the policies that they develop may make more and more people get poor and poorer even as the rich get richer and richer. As previously stated, the ideology kicks the ball to the poor and expects them to find solutions to their own problems. A government that is driven by neoliberal ideals will make no provisions for price controls to the extent that people will price commodities, however basic, like they like. What this means is that the poor may not afford the very basic commodities that they need to survive and so they are more likely to remain poor. Conclusion It is beyond doubt that liberalism and conservatism are to a great extent opposed to each other. While conservatism are dedicated to maintaining traditions and respect for values, neoliberalism is concerned with new ways of reasoning. With respect to poverty, conservative policies may be considerate of the poor and may specifically be dedicated to alleviating poverty. Neoliberal ideals on the other hand, do not give any thought to the problem of poverty and therefore do not advocate for the institution of policies to solve the problem. References Betson, D. & Warlick, J. (1998). Alternative Historical Trends in Poverty. American Economic Review 88:348–51. 1998. boundless.com (2014). Conservatism. Retrieved March 18, 2014 from https://www.boundless.com/political-science/american-politics/political-ideology/conservatism/ Gordon, D. (2005). Indicators of Poverty & Hunger. United Nations. Retrieved March 18, 2014 from www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/documents/ydiDavidGordon_poverty.pdf Harvey, D. (2005). A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. http://academic.regis.edu/jriley/libcons.htm Martinez, E. & Garcia, A. (2013). What is Neoliberalism?. Retrieved March 18, 2014 from Plant, R. (2009). The Neo-liberal State. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Riley, J. (1990). Moderate Political Ideologies: Liberalism and Conservatism. Retrieved March 18, 2014 from http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=376 Shah, A. (2013). Causes of Poverty. Retrieved March 18, 2014 from http://www.globalissues.org/issue/2/causes-of-poverty Read More