Small human sufferings and UK government cuts

[Rum]

I was at the supermarket earlier today and bumped into a colleague from work. She manages the health and safety unit which covers all our schools, the department, covers CRB checks (criminal records) and stuff, and contrary to the public perception of 'helf and saftie, she is humorous, kind and flexible.

We are still waiting here for 'the letter' about whether or not we qualify for voluntary redundancy. It is now ten days overdue and literally thousands of people in my county council have no idea whether they will have a job in the next month or two.

In passing I said to this woman, who I like and admire very much, that I wasn't being sentimental about it all, but the fact that the government had ditched the agenda I have been focused on for the last 20 years was hard to take and left one questioning what the point of it all was.

She started to say that she *is* sentimental about it, but before she could finish she burst into tears.

On the grander scale of things a smallish matter, but the thousands around the country going through this are human beings with feelings. Perhaps politicians need reminding of this now and again.

[Atheist-Lite]

I was at the supermarket earlier today and bumped into a colleague from work. She manages the health and safety unit which covers all our schools, the department, covers CRB checks (criminal records) and stuff, and contrary to the public perception of 'helf and saftie, she is humorous, kind and flexible.

We are still waiting here for 'the letter' about whether or not we qualify for voluntary redundancy. It is now ten days overdue and literally thousands of people in my county council have no idea whether they will have a job in the next month or two.

In passing I said to this woman, who I like and admire very much, that I wasn't being sentimental about it all, but the fact that the government had ditched the agenda I have been focused on for the last 20 years was hard to take and left one questioning what the point of it all was.

She started to say that she *is* sentimental about it, but before she could finish she burst into tears.

On the grander scale of things a smallish matter, but the thousands around the country going through this are human beings with feelings. Perhaps politicians need reminding of this now and again.

Politicans are sociopaths by nature. Asking a snake in a suit to care? Their worse than me and beside they have real power to execute their agendas.

[Seth]

I was at the supermarket earlier today and bumped into a colleague from work. She manages the health and safety unit which covers all our schools, the department, covers CRB checks (criminal records) and stuff, and contrary to the public perception of 'helf and saftie, she is humorous, kind and flexible.

We are still waiting here for 'the letter' about whether or not we qualify for voluntary redundancy. It is now ten days overdue and literally thousands of people in my county council have no idea whether they will have a job in the next month or two.

In passing I said to this woman, who I like and admire very much, that I wasn't being sentimental about it all, but the fact that the government had ditched the agenda I have been focused on for the last 20 years was hard to take and left one questioning what the point of it all was.

She started to say that she *is* sentimental about it, but before she could finish she burst into tears.

On the grander scale of things a smallish matter, but the thousands around the country going through this are human beings with feelings. Perhaps politicians need reminding of this now and again.

What would you like them to do about it?

The OPM has finally run out just about everywhere, and government is no longer, as I predicted, able to afford to support people. This is the danger a nation faces when half its population work for the government and are therefore supported by the other half (and in actuality only about 10 percent or less) of the population, who have finally exhausted both their excess capital and their ability to produce at the rate needed to support the dependent class.

It's time for those whose economic future is currently dependent upon extracting money from the productive class to realize that the gravy train has derailed and they will have to go get real jobs, doing real work that creates real wealth. Sad it may be, but you'll all be better off when you're no longer sucking from the public teat and you're creating your own wealth, however meager it might be.

Depending on government is a fool's errand.

In other words, I told you so...

[Atheist-Lite]

I was at the supermarket earlier today and bumped into a colleague from work. She manages the health and safety unit which covers all our schools, the department, covers CRB checks (criminal records) and stuff, and contrary to the public perception of 'helf and saftie, she is humorous, kind and flexible.

We are still waiting here for 'the letter' about whether or not we qualify for voluntary redundancy. It is now ten days overdue and literally thousands of people in my county council have no idea whether they will have a job in the next month or two.

In passing I said to this woman, who I like and admire very much, that I wasn't being sentimental about it all, but the fact that the government had ditched the agenda I have been focused on for the last 20 years was hard to take and left one questioning what the point of it all was.

She started to say that she *is* sentimental about it, but before she could finish she burst into tears.

On the grander scale of things a smallish matter, but the thousands around the country going through this are human beings with feelings. Perhaps politicians need reminding of this now and again.

What would you like them to do about it?

The OPM has finally run out just about everywhere, and government is no longer, as I predicted, able to afford to support people. This is the danger a nation faces when half its population work for the government and are therefore supported by the other half (and in actuality only about 10 percent or less) of the population, who have finally exhausted both their excess capital and their ability to produce at the rate needed to support the dependent class.

It's time for those whose economic future is currently dependent upon extracting money from the productive class to realize that the gravy train has derailed and they will have to go get real jobs, doing real work that creates real wealth. Sad it may be, but you'll all be better off when you're no longer sucking from the public teat and you're creating your own wealth, however meager it might be.

Depending on government is a fool's errand.

In other words, I told you so...

I don't see how The Big Society where the other half of the country who were working for something must now work for nothing to support themselves along with those not working for nothing like children, the chronically sick and the old. I'm sure the solution is the criminal class. These will grease the wheels of capitalism and make a new power elite in time after the current inept elite is removed/toppled.

[Rum]

What would you like them to do about it?

The OPM has finally run out just about everywhere, and government is no longer, as I predicted, able to afford to support people. This is the danger a nation faces when half its population work for the government and are therefore supported by the other half (and in actuality only about 10 percent or less) of the population, who have finally exhausted both their excess capital and their ability to produce at the rate needed to support the dependent class.

It's time for those whose economic future is currently dependent upon extracting money from the productive class to realize that the gravy train has derailed and they will have to go get real jobs, doing real work that creates real wealth. Sad it may be, but you'll all be better off when you're no longer sucking from the public teat and you're creating your own wealth, however meager it might be.

Depending on government is a fool's errand.

In other words, I told you so...

You didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, but thanks for the condescending lecture anyway.

The story was about the human misery not the cold economics of the issue.

[Seth]

I was at the supermarket earlier today and bumped into a colleague from work. She manages the health and safety unit which covers all our schools, the department, covers CRB checks (criminal records) and stuff, and contrary to the public perception of 'helf and saftie, she is humorous, kind and flexible.

We are still waiting here for 'the letter' about whether or not we qualify for voluntary redundancy. It is now ten days overdue and literally thousands of people in my county council have no idea whether they will have a job in the next month or two.

In passing I said to this woman, who I like and admire very much, that I wasn't being sentimental about it all, but the fact that the government had ditched the agenda I have been focused on for the last 20 years was hard to take and left one questioning what the point of it all was.

She started to say that she *is* sentimental about it, but before she could finish she burst into tears.

On the grander scale of things a smallish matter, but the thousands around the country going through this are human beings with feelings. Perhaps politicians need reminding of this now and again.

What would you like them to do about it?

The OPM has finally run out just about everywhere, and government is no longer, as I predicted, able to afford to support people. This is the danger a nation faces when half its population work for the government and are therefore supported by the other half (and in actuality only about 10 percent or less) of the population, who have finally exhausted both their excess capital and their ability to produce at the rate needed to support the dependent class.

It's time for those whose economic future is currently dependent upon extracting money from the productive class to realize that the gravy train has derailed and they will have to go get real jobs, doing real work that creates real wealth. Sad it may be, but you'll all be better off when you're no longer sucking from the public teat and you're creating your own wealth, however meager it might be.

Depending on government is a fool's errand.

In other words, I told you so...

I don't see how The Big Society where the other half of the country who were working for something must now work for nothing to support themselves along with those not working for nothing like children, the chronically sick and the old. I'm sure the solution is the criminal class. These will grease the wheels of capitalism and make a new power elite in time after the current inept elite is removed/toppled.

Yeah, the collapse of socialism is indeed an ugly thing. In Russia capitalism reemerged almost immediately and became a kleptocracy.

The people of the UK need to learn to fend for themselves again, which is a hard, hard lesson to learn, but it can be done, mostly because there is no other choice.

[Seth]

What would you like them to do about it?

The OPM has finally run out just about everywhere, and government is no longer, as I predicted, able to afford to support people. This is the danger a nation faces when half its population work for the government and are therefore supported by the other half (and in actuality only about 10 percent or less) of the population, who have finally exhausted both their excess capital and their ability to produce at the rate needed to support the dependent class.

It's time for those whose economic future is currently dependent upon extracting money from the productive class to realize that the gravy train has derailed and they will have to go get real jobs, doing real work that creates real wealth. Sad it may be, but you'll all be better off when you're no longer sucking from the public teat and you're creating your own wealth, however meager it might be.

Depending on government is a fool's errand.

In other words, I told you so...

You didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, but thanks for the condescending lecture anyway.

The story was about the human misery not the cold economics of the issue.

Wallowing in misery is not how one recovers from an economic depression. Setting aside such emotions and buckling down to the business of creating wealth through hard work and innovation is. That is going to require the abandonment of many preconceptions about "fairness" and "social justice" that lead to the dependent class becoming more dependent. The UK has done it before, and it'll do it again, if it doesn't succumb to chaos and anarchy first.

Don't feel too badly, you''re hardly alone, and the US is in the same boat, along with most of the rest of the world.

[Atheist-Lite]

Some of the problem is the good years since World War Two have allowed the weak to overbreed & thrive and their dependancy like a drowning man is threatening to drag the strong down with them.

[PsychoSerenity]

[mistermack]

Yeah, the collapse of socialism is indeed an ugly thing. In Russia capitalism reemerged almost immediately and became a kleptocracy.

The people of the UK need to learn to fend for themselves again, which is a hard, hard lesson to learn, but it can be done, mostly because there is no other choice.

What a complete pile of bagwind. The world economy goes on a spree of capitalist speculation, and collapses in an inevitable pathetic fart, and you see it as some kind of verdict on socialism.
You clearly let fox news do your "thinking" for you.

[Rum]

Wallowing in misery is not how one recovers from an economic depression. Setting aside such emotions and buckling down to the business of creating wealth through hard work and innovation is. That is going to require the abandonment of many preconceptions about "fairness" and "social justice" that lead to the dependent class becoming more dependent. The UK has done it before, and it'll do it again, if it doesn't succumb to chaos and anarchy first.

Don't feel too badly, you''re hardly alone, and the US is in the same boat, along with most of the rest of the world.

Clearly your model of hyper capitalism has little room for compassion. So be it.

Socialism is ultimately about compassion, even if in pratical terms it would struggle to provide the evidence. The model that 'new labour' came up with was based on the idea that if you encourage capitalist style growth it will generate the taxes you need to maintain a humane society.

This may or may not have been valid, but it was not this model that collapsed. As mentioned earlier, what collapsed was the owners of the capital getting too greedy and inventing invisible and non-existant security on which to earn their own rake offs.

[mistermack]

Clearly your model of hyper capitalism has little room for compassion. So be it.

Socialism is ultimately about compassion, even if in pratical terms it would struggle to provide the evidence. The model that 'new labour' came up with was based on the idea that if you encourage capitalist style growth it will generate the taxes you need to maintain a humane society.

This may or may not have been valid, but it was not this model that collapsed. As mentioned earlier, what collapsed was the owners of the capital getting too greedy and inventing invisible and non-existant security on which to earn their own rake offs.

While that may have been the notional theory, the reality was hugely different.
The "growth" that they constantly crowed about was completely false.
It was borrowed growth.
If I borrowed tens of thousands, and then went around bragging how much my "economy" had grown, my bank manager would pull the plug.
Britains growth was almost all house-price inflation, and the borrowing and spending it encouraged. Add to that the economic growth due to record immigration, and you've accounted for practically all of it.

If you have a house with ten people living in it, and an "economy" of £X , is it real growth, if you move another person in, and point to ten percent growth?
None of the original ten are better off. They are worse off, as they have a more crowded home.
It's clearly fake growth, and that's what labour were so proud of. By all means give industry the means to grow, but not by allowing a tottering pile of debt. And this country is over-full. Shut the fuckin doors.

[Atheist-Lite]

Clearly your model of hyper capitalism has little room for compassion. So be it.

Socialism is ultimately about compassion, even if in pratical terms it would struggle to provide the evidence. The model that 'new labour' came up with was based on the idea that if you encourage capitalist style growth it will generate the taxes you need to maintain a humane society.

This may or may not have been valid, but it was not this model that collapsed. As mentioned earlier, what collapsed was the owners of the capital getting too greedy and inventing invisible and non-existant security on which to earn their own rake offs.

While that may have been the notional theory, the reality was hugely different.
The "growth" that they constantly crowed about was completely false.
It was borrowed growth.
If I borrowed tens of thousands, and then went around bragging how much my "economy" had grown, my bank manager would pull the plug.
Britains growth was almost all house-price inflation, and the borrowing and spending it encouraged. Add to that the economic growth due to record immigration, and you've accounted for practically all of it.

If you have a house with ten people living in it, and an "economy" of £X , is it real growth, if you move another person in, and point to ten percent growth?
None of the original ten are better off. They are worse off, as they have a more crowded home.
It's clearly fake growth, and that's what labour were so proud of. By all means give industry the means to grow, but not by allowing a tottering pile of debt. And this country is over-full. Shut the fuckin doors.

Population density is a crucial thing. If for whatever reason this country had to support the population without imports then anyone with a heart would conclude it should be possible. At present it is not possible to feed everyone and any signficant decline in world trade, stemming from the collapse of dollar or oil distrubtion for instance, would cause famine here - not just hunger but mass starvation.

[Seth]

Yeah, the collapse of socialism is indeed an ugly thing. In Russia capitalism reemerged almost immediately and became a kleptocracy.

The people of the UK need to learn to fend for themselves again, which is a hard, hard lesson to learn, but it can be done, mostly because there is no other choice.

What a complete pile of bagwind. The world economy goes on a spree of capitalist speculation, and collapses in an inevitable pathetic fart, and you see it as some kind of verdict on socialism.

Of course, because it is an indictment of socialism.

The just and legitimate criticism is based in the fundamental flaws of socialism, which is the notion that people are entitled to be supported by something other than the sweat of their own brow. Socialistic capitalism fails because it redistributes the wealth created by the few to the many who did nothing in service of the creation of the wealth. No matter how capitalistic a socialist society may become, no matter how on-fire its economy may be, it will always eventually dissolve when the burden on the productive class to support the dependent class exceeds the capacity of the productive class to make a profit. Once productive-class capitalistic socialists stop being allowed to enjoy the fruits of their labor by the redistribution of their wealth to the ever-growing dependent class, the productive class will stop generating wealth because there's no point in laboring hard only to have everything you labored for taken away to serve the needs of the non-productive.

Pretty soon, the OPM runs out and everybody decides to go on the dole rather than be productive, because it's their "right" to be supported at somebody else's expense.

Capitalism is just an economic theory and description of how people go about creating wealth. Socialism, on the other hand, is a social plan that may, or may not use capitalistic processes. But socialism always ends up the same way, with everybody on the dole and the economy bankrupt. Death and destruction soon follow.

[mistermack]

Seth, you brag about being a troll, so I can't take what you say seriously.
Which is just as well, given the content.
I prefer people who think for themselves.