Welfarism doesn’t just end at the level of security and healthcare, but In politics as well. It is highly important that we vote and choose the right person, rather than a lackadaisical leader who would not care when the time comes to make germane decisions that has to do with the masses and this is why it is relevant that we all vote and believe that our votes do count.
Jane Addams, a renowned social activist and reformer, once said, “Nothing could be worse than the fear that one had given up too soon, and left one unexpended effort that might have saved the world.”
Discussing welfarism reminds me of a young guy, JAYSWITCH. He is a university student who served as the welfare director of the department of Foreign Languages in the Lagos State University at the time. He was used to a perculiar saying, “human welfare is human duty”. Whenever I heard this, I began to think, human welfare is human duty ? Which means that it is the duty of everyone to care for the other person.
On the one hand, welfarism according to the Oxford Dictionary, is the health, happiness, and fortunes of a person or group. On the other hand, welfare also refers to a statutory procedure or social effort designed to promote the basic physical and material well-being of people in need.
I would like to make emphasis on the first definition which says that welfare has to do with “the health, happiness and fortunes of a person or a group”. In relation to JAYSWITCH’s words “human welfare is human duty” this means that anything that has to do with the health, happiness and fortunes of a person or group is the duty of everyone of us and not just one person.
But nowadays, we have left human welfare to just the welfare officers (the police officers, doctors, leaders in the society and so on) forgetting that there’s more for us to do rather than depending on the public servants.
This has engendered more harm in today’s society and is why we now live in an unsecured environment and unhealthy environment, with the future hope going astray. In subsequent paragraphs, emphasis would be made on these challenges and why we all need to make human welfare priority.
First off, at the level of security. I met a course mate few months ago and asked him why his phone was unreachable whenever I called.
He informed me that he was robbed at a market during the day. Then, I wondered if there was no one around at the time of the robbery. He narrated further that it was at gun point and there are evidence that the market women knew those robbers, but they only feel it is none of their business. Therefore, they pretend as if nothing has happened. By so doing these guys (the robbers) become more confident because they walk freely without any one challenging them. Obviously, the police officers cannot be everywhere but we the people are everywhere and that’s why the security agencies and public servants and we all have access to them all. With this little experience, we can relate this with the quote of Jane Addams, a renowned social activist and reformer, who once said, “Nothing could be worse than the fear that one had given up too soon, and left one unexpended effort that might have saved the world.”
The fear that the people have given up too soon and left one unexpended effort that might have saved the world is the reason why we live in the a state of anarchy. Many a person will say “I was robbed but I need to let it go”. Meanwhile they would have tracked the phone or informed the police so they can help investigate the crime. One of the excuses these persons have is that they have underrated the police and other security agencies so much that they feel that they cannot investigate serious crimes.
Moving on, at the level of health. Currently, there are on going awareness on cholera prevention. Cholera is a bacterial disease causing severe diarrhoea and dehydration, usually spread in water.
A person may get cholera by drinking water or eating food contaminated with the cholera bacterium. In an epidemic, the source of the contamination is usually the faeces of an infected person. The disease can spread rapidly in areas with inadequate treatment of sewage and drinking water.
If we are to go by JAYSWITCH’s quote “Human welfare is human duty” then, it is everyone’s duty to ensure that we fight this deadly disease, because if your friend get infected there’s high tendency that it may get to you as well.
In addition, looking out for kids within our environment is also a way of welfarism. How ?
Today, we have seen older people overlook a child who does something wrong. For example, back then when I was living at Odunsi Bariga, There were little girls at the age of 15 who live in my house (not my room), but these little girls are involved in negative attitudes like having boyfriends as underage girls.
Whenever I saw them, I sat them down and told them why they should focus more on the future and let them know how bright their future will be if they spend their time studying and focusing on getting good grades in school. Please note that I am not in anyway related to these little girls, but if they turn out bad it will surely increase the amount of negative energy we will have in our society.
In conclusion, it is very important that we educate those around us on the importance of getting involved in positive acts rather than negative acts. I would rather tell a child why he should not steal, rather than just telling the child to stop stealing. Like my lecturer, Professor Bello says, “Do not tell me something is good or bad, tell me why it is good or bad) During that particular lecture where this statement was uttered, she was talking about empty fillers in the use of language.
Welfarism doesn’t just end at the level of security and healthcare, but In politics as well. It is highly important that we vote and choose the right person, rather than a lackadaisical leader who would not care when the time comes to make germane decisions that has to do with the masses and this is why it is relevant that we all vote and believe that our votes do count.