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The New Right - Coggle Diagram
The New Right
Murray (1989)
Murray blamed the poorest members of society for not working hard enough. He suggests they deserve poverty for not adhering to social values.
Murray largely attributes the development of such values to the generosity of welfare states. It has made it possible for young women to become single parents and provide inadequate socialisation (failure and crime) and for young men to reject the importance of holding down a job.
Murray argues the underclass are not an economically disadvantaged group but that they are defined by their behaviour, typically involving lack of commitment to regular employment and high birth rates outside of marriage- i.e. undesirable values.
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He argued there is a 'culture of welfare and dependency' where there is a vicious cycle of underclass dependency on state welfare.
Trickle Down Theory
If the rich get taxed less and make more profit, the money they spend will be distributed amongst society. If we have richer people, it means it will make companies bigger and create more jobs.
Thatcher (1980s) allowed privatisation of government owned industries- e.g. John Mayor privatised railways soon after. This was to fund tax cuts but also to uphold the believe that governments shouldn't intervene with publicly owned institutions.
This happened again under Liz Truss' 2022 budget in which big tax cuts for top earners caused uproar.
Saunders (1990)
There is a dependency culture as benefits are high and generous so people feel no need to work because they can live comfortably without it.
Benefits mean that because the poor do not need work, they can do a tax free cash in hand job and commit crimes such as drug dealing to supplement their incomes.
Members of the underclass are badly educated and have fewer skills, so they do not want to work if it isn't worth their time.
Blaming the poor
Lewis (1950) and Sugarman (1970)- the poor have a culture that keeps them from success- cultural deprivation.
Welshman (2008)- the poor transmit their poverty to their children through poor socialisation- cycle of deprivation.
Jenks (1989)
People on benefits are more likely to be criminals and refuse to do well in school and are uneducated. They are unwilling to work and insist on living on benefits (dependency on the state).
Criticism
They blame victims of poverty and don't look at reasons for it and there is very little evidence that trickle down economics work. Attitudes have led to social victim blaming and not improved the lives of the poorest in society. Often highlight small proportion of abusers of the welfare system but disregard tax avoiders from wealthy backgrounds- e.g. Rishi Sunak's wife allegedly avoided tax through a non-dom tax status.