An economy based on the ideology of laissez-faire

[liliwangwang]

An economy based on the ideology of laissez-faire requires a deprived population that is allegedly unwilling to work or that can be considered inferior because it must accept charity or welfare in order to survive. Not only does the alleged moral deviancy of the poor reduce the moral pressure on the present political economy to eliminate poverty but socialist alternatives can be made to look quite unattractive if those who will benefit most from them can be described as lazy, spendthrift, dishonest, and promiscuous.-----The Uses of Poverty: The Poor Pay All Herbert J. Gans

I have trouble understanding the first sentence.
What does "An economy based on the ideology of laissez-faire" mean?
and why it requires a deprived population?
and it refers to the deprived population or the economy?
and what is "socialist alternatives "? Does it mean the socialism?

Thank you for your explanation!

 

[lingobingo]

I would read it as meaning an ideology that makes no attempt to right the basic wrongs of society.

Yes, the red it refers to “deprived population”.

But the writer isn’t saying that the ideology requires a deprived population. He’s saying that it requires the deprived population to be demonised – in order to give those in power an excuse not to institute the sort of measures that are so badly needed to close the ever-widening gap between rich and poor.

 

[Packard]

laissez-faire | Definition & History

Laissez-faire, (French: “allow to do”) policy of minimum governmental interference in the economic affairs of individuals and society. The origin of the term is uncertain, but folklore suggests that it is derived from the answer Jean-Baptiste Colbert, comptroller general of finance under King Louis XIV of France, received when he asked industrialists what the government could do to help business: “Leave us alone.” The doctrine of laissez-faire is usually associated with the economists known as Physiocrats, who flourished in France from about 1756 to 1778. The policy of laissez-faire received strong support in classical economics as it developed in Great Britain under the influence of the philosopher and economist Adam Smith.

 

[liliwangwang]

O, Thank you so much!
I finally see the structure, it should be
"it requires a deprived population that is allegedly bad so that the government dont have too much pressure to reduce poverty "

Then what does "socialist alternatives " mean? ?

I would read it as meaning an ideology that makes no attempt to right the basic wrongs of society.

Yes, the red it refers to “deprived population”.

But the writer isn’t saying that the ideology requires a deprived population. He’s saying that it requires the deprived population to be demonised – in order to give those in power an excuse not to institute the sort of measures that are so badly needed to close the ever-widening gap between rich and poor.

 

[lingobingo]

It seems to be written from the perspective of (what in the UK would be) a Conservative/right-wing government, so “socialist alternatives” refers to whatever measures the opposing political party (in the UK, the Labour Party) claims it would bring in if it regained power.