Compassion is Irrelevant to Arguments for Welfare
The reason I am writing this post is because by my judgement of western culture, welfare is often justified by the compassion argument. ie: A society without welfare would be lacking in compassion.
Two recent examples of this line of argument are seen in Kevin Rudd’s address to the CIS and in this Australian newspaper article. However I’ve come across many examples and doubt others would be hard to find.
Firstly I wish to quickly state that I think it’s dangerous to apply human emotions to society. Society isn’t a real living thing like a human and is not capable of emotion. Society is a sum of individuals.
By my thinking, there are two seemingly contradictory ways of looking at issue of welfare in regards to compassion:
1) People are generally not compassionate therefore must be forced to give money to those less fortunate. – This seems false to me. The existence of charities provides empirical evidence that people are quite willing to donate to those less fortunate.
2) People are generally highly compassionate to the point that they are willing to be forced into paying welfare. – This argument would logically make the need for force unnecessary and would therefore be an argument against welfare.
However, to be honest I haven’t thought very hard about the above points because as far as I’m concerned the issue of compassion is an irrelevant distraction.
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Absent Dad Hyperactivity Disorder
NSW is now the place for parents to get hard drugs for their children as taxpayer-subsidised prescriptions of Ritalin soared 43% to 162,692 in 2007.
The Royal Australian College of Physicians has controversially recommended training teachers to look for evidence of ADHD in students. Schools love this proposal as it will mean more money.
However, Dr Linda Graham, a senior researcher in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at Sydney University, said the approach would encourage teachers “to act as proxy-diagnosticians by looking for evidence of particular deficits, perhaps missing vital signs which may indicate other difficulties at home or with learning“. She added that the proposal would either lead to drastic funding cuts for students with serious disabilities or that “special education budgets would skyrocket.”
Medical experts are increasingly worried that doctors are “too readily” labelling children with ADHD and prescribing Ritalin, potentially putting them at risk of dangerous side effects. When a similar trial was initiated in the U.S, diagnosed cases of ADHD increased by 600% as schools grabbed the extra cash. Looks like Dr. Graham may have a point.
Methylphenidate (branded by Novartis as Ritalin) stimulates the brain by increasing levels of dopamine. Though still relatively new, it has already been shown to cause hallucinations, mood swings, nervousness, stomach aches, diarrhea, headaches, decreased sex drive, weight loss, gum and skin bleeding and high blood pressure.
In short, i would sooner ask my children to drink bleach than take Ritalin.
I can already hear the sounds of ambitious tort lawyers preparing huge class actions.
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