At any time, but particularly in times of recession, the plight of the vulnerable must be a matter of prime concern to those who have the good fortune to manage our affairs. And it must always concern us as individuals, for the poor will always be with us and so will the vulnerable.
Such groups as those differently able and children without parents for one reason or other to guide and protect them and to look after their physical and emotional well-being, are high on the list of vulnerable groups in our society.
So too are pensioners, who may not have planned their futures well enough and must depend on the state. Less well known but also vulnerable are those who are working but whose wages are so low that the state in its social duty regard them as among those who have to be assisted. Hence the reverse tax credit.
Unfortunately, some families find themselves among the vulnerable groups. We need to highlight the fact that these problems exist and to draw attention to the possibility that the vulnerable people existing in our midst can fall through the cracks of the safety net.
We call upon the authorities to have another look at how such vulnerable people might be caught by the system and assisted before it is too late. This country boasts quite proudly about its major resource being its people; and since no man is an island, we are all affected in a major way by the suffering of any member of the society especially where official provision has been made for the alleviation of such incidents of hardship.
Children are not brought into this world at their request, and they require food, attention and physical care to bring them to adulthood. But they also require love and affection and tenderness of the kind that a parent can give. In the absence of parents, the state agencies are to do their best by providing financial and other help.
It is that other help that we believe to be of equal importance to the child, for a well-fed, physically-cared-for person who is emotionally deprived may not make for a well-adjusted citizen and may end up on the wrong side of society’s tracks.
Difficult economic circumstances can aggravate social ills, and individual cases may present heart-wrenching problems for the authorities, but if it is good to aspire to building a society, then socially uplifting policies and practices must rank high on our list of objectives to be reached even in the face of the harshest recessionary conditions. Considerations of the deficit, though very important, may have to yield a point or two in favour of the amelioration of the condition of our poor and vulnerable.
A case can be made for the role of the state in these situations; but if, as we say, that we are our brother’s keeper, then we all as individuals also have a duty to do our bit to lend a hand to those who may be unusually exposed to the ravages of the economic conditions at this time. Financial help is of course always welcome, but emotional support can often move the mountains that confront the vulnerable. We must not fail them.
