One of the biggest talking points at the moment is the government's plans to cap benefits. Now, I don't have the time or energy to explain, or even try and understand the fine points of all the changes, other people have done this far better than me.
I would, however, like to respond to the, frankly rather boring and predictable responses that always come up whenever benefits are discussed in public. They are often uttered by those who proudly state they have always worked, never claimed benefits, and invariably wonder at people who dare to have children, homes, televisions, food, water etc. without considering who is going to pay for them.
Well, all I can say about these commenters is that I'm very pleased for them that they've never been in a position of vulnerability or disadvantage, and they're right, if everyone was intelligent enough to never need any help from anyone, ever, the world would be a much better place. Unfortunately, we're not all as brilliant at being human beings as they are.
The one thing I feel that needs to be flagged up in the debate is what these benefits are really for. They are not for the stereotypedbyJeremyKyle toothless drunken babymachines who live on richmond cigarettes and the tears of their illegitimate children. They are for those children whose reality is living in very real poverty, the stress of which leads to family breakdown, illness and a future population angry at the world who, quite rightly, grow up thinking that the least the world owes them is a flat screen telly. Reducing benefits to these families will do nothing to bridge the divide that is becoming bigger and bigger between the taxpayers and the ones who increasingly have less and less choice. When graduates are fighting for jobs and unemployment is at its highest in seventeen years, perhaps now is the time to invest in those children who are going to have to pay back our debts and eventually dig us out of the field size hole that all of those commenters who 'have never claimed a benefit' undoubtedly harvested a few prize crops from... if you forgive the convoluted metaphor...
I would, however, like to respond to the, frankly rather boring and predictable responses that always come up whenever benefits are discussed in public. They are often uttered by those who proudly state they have always worked, never claimed benefits, and invariably wonder at people who dare to have children, homes, televisions, food, water etc. without considering who is going to pay for them.
Well, all I can say about these commenters is that I'm very pleased for them that they've never been in a position of vulnerability or disadvantage, and they're right, if everyone was intelligent enough to never need any help from anyone, ever, the world would be a much better place. Unfortunately, we're not all as brilliant at being human beings as they are.
The one thing I feel that needs to be flagged up in the debate is what these benefits are really for. They are not for the stereotypedbyJeremyKyle toothless drunken babymachines who live on richmond cigarettes and the tears of their illegitimate children. They are for those children whose reality is living in very real poverty, the stress of which leads to family breakdown, illness and a future population angry at the world who, quite rightly, grow up thinking that the least the world owes them is a flat screen telly. Reducing benefits to these families will do nothing to bridge the divide that is becoming bigger and bigger between the taxpayers and the ones who increasingly have less and less choice. When graduates are fighting for jobs and unemployment is at its highest in seventeen years, perhaps now is the time to invest in those children who are going to have to pay back our debts and eventually dig us out of the field size hole that all of those commenters who 'have never claimed a benefit' undoubtedly harvested a few prize crops from... if you forgive the convoluted metaphor...
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