# The welfare state

How modern states took on protection from want, disease, and old age, from Bismarck's social insurance and Britain's Poor Law through Beveridge, the New Deal, the NHS, and Kenyatta's African Socialism.

*This story parallel: Neocolonialism: independence without economic freedom*
*The lost decade: credit crunch, stimulus, and broken banks parallel this story*
*Keynesian economics: demand, depression, and the fight over full employment parallel this story*
*Kenya capitalism versus Tanzania Ujamaa parallel this story*

## 1793 — Friendly societies as insurance before the welfare state

Britain's Friendly Societies Act gave legal recognition and protection to friendly societies, the mutual clubs whose members paid regular dues in exchange for sickness, funeral, and old-age benefits. Orders such as the Foresters, the Oddfellows, and countless local societies were the main safety net for working people before state insurance and pensions. Their role shows fraternal orders as practical mutual insurance, not only social clubs.

## 1834 — Ancient Order of Foresters formed in England

The Ancient Order of Foresters was organized in England out of an older Royal Foresters society, spreading as a friendly society that pooled members' dues to pay benefits in sickness, old age, and death. Friendly societies like the Foresters were a main form of working-class mutual insurance before the welfare state. The order later expanded to the United States and the British colonies.

## 14 August 1834 — The New Poor Law is passed

The Poor Law Amendment Act cut cash relief and pushed the poor into workhouses with harsh conditions. It aimed to reduce costs but caused widespread hardship and anger.

## 1880 — Bismarck's social insurance and its stated aim

The aim of Otto von Bismarck’s social insurance legislation, as he himself put it in 1880, was ‘to engender in the great mass of the unpropertied the conservative state of mind that springs from the feeling of entitlement to a pension.

> "The aim of Otto von Bismarck’s social insurance legislation, as he himself put it in 1880, was ‘to engender in the great mass of the unpropertied the conservative state of mind that springs from the feeling of entitlement to a pension."
> — The Ascent of Money

*Source: Otto von Bismarck, 1885 (photograph)*

## 1884 — Fabian Society comes into existence

Gatto dates the founding of Fabianism to around 1884, named for the Roman general Fabius. He argues the Fabians became a potent force behind the modern welfare state and dumbed-down schooling.

> "Fabianism came into existence around the year 1884, taking its name from Roman general Fabius
Cunctator"
> — The Underground History of American Education, p. 149-150

## 1905 — Beatrice Webb joins the Royal Commission on the Poor Law

Gatto cites Kitty Muggeridge's claim that the welfare state's first foundation was laid in November 1905, when Beatrice Webb was appointed to the Royal Commission on the Poor Law and drafted a cradle-to-grave plan.

> "a reasonable date to choose would be the last fortnight of November in 1905 when
Beatrice Webb was appointed to the Royal Commission on the Poor Law"
> — The Underground History of American Education, p. 151-152

## 4 March 1933 — Launch of the New Deal

Franklin Roosevelt takes office amid the Depression and drives through a wave of relief, recovery, and regulatory legislation in his first hundred days. The New Deal redefines the state's role in a capitalist economy.

*Source: Great Depression Facts*

## 14 August 1935 — Social Security Act

Franklin Roosevelt signs the act creating old-age insurance funded by payroll taxes, plus unemployment insurance and aid to dependent children. Social Security becomes the largest program of the federal government and the anchor of the American welfare state.

## December 1942 — Beveridge Report published

William Beveridge's report proposes a comprehensive system of social insurance to defeat want, disease, ignorance, squalor, and idleness. It becomes the blueprint for the British welfare state.

## 5 July 1948 — Founding of the National Health Service

Britain's Labour government launches the National Health Service, providing medical care free at the point of use. It becomes the centerpiece of the welfare state the Beveridge Report proposed.

## May 1965 — African Socialism promises a Kenyan welfare state

Sessional Paper No. 10 of 1965, African Socialism and its Application to Planning in Kenya, promised political equality, social justice, and freedom from want, disease, and exploitation, the language of a welfare state. Broad welfare spending stayed thin. Colin Leys and other critics argued the policy mainly opened a path for accumulation by a political elite around Jomo Kenyatta.

*Source: Underdevelopment in Kenya: The Political Economy of Neo-Colonialism*

*Source: African Socialism and its Application to Planning in Kenya*

## 30 July 1965 — Creation of Medicare and Medicaid

Johnson signs the Medicare and Medicaid amendments to the Social Security Act at the Truman Library, handing the first Medicare card to Harry Truman. The programs give federal health coverage to the elderly and the poor and transform American medicine.