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| out of all these books so far I've read 'Save water, drink wine' I admit I get my priorities wrong sometimes |
Sadly there is minimal education about how the country is really run in schools and so where do a lot of people source their political opinions from?
POVERTY PORN! lol love it
Newspapers such as the Daily mail, Daily express and the Sun are cheap, widely available and highly popular. I can remember a while ago when I was based at a library in a very ethnically diverse area but at the time the only newspaper they had was the Daily Mail. Whilst being aware that I'd never consciously made an effort to learn about about politics at the time, I was intelligent enough to use my own judgement and totally enraged by the ridiculous headlines.
'ROMANIAN ASYLUM SEEKER RUNS OVER AN ELDERLY LADY AND YOUR TAX PAYER'S MONEY IS BEING USED TO FUND THEIR PRIVATE JET!'
'IMMIGRANT COUPLE WITH 15 CHILDREN RECEIVING MORE IN BENEFITS THAN YOU WILL EVER EARN AND THEY LIVE IN A GIANT MANSION IN MAYFAIR WITH A SWIMMING POOL AND JACUZZI!'
sad thing is, that's not much of an exaggeration of the kinds of headlines those papers have!
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| The daily bullshit. don't buy it |
As I mentioned in my blog about body image, my family really didn't have a lot of money when I was growing up and it meant that I was an easy target for bullies.
(See http://samanthathesanevegan.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/the-girl-in-mirror-2-all-about-that.html). My mum used to be a teacher but gave up work when my older sister was little to concentrate on motherhood. My dad used to work in credit control but sadly got made redundant in the late 90s and as a black middle-aged man, struggled to find work. As a result, my family were living on benefits for several years. And were we living in luxury? No. How was it really? Horrendous. Humiliating. Heart-breaking (why do all the words I'm thinking of begin with H?). Anyway! A lot of people think school is the best time of your life but for me it was absolute hell. I always felt really different and inferior because I didn't have the same things other people had. All my clothes were hand-me downs and I dreaded non-school uniform days. That being said, my parents were amazing and did the best they could under the circumstances. It meant that I was a lot more appreciative and excited on birthdays and Christmas, even by small gifts and taught me and my siblings about delayed gratification. It certainly doesn't feel like a blessing at the time though and it's extremely damaging to your self-esteem.
So why didn't my parents just get a job? Oh really? Cheers, they never would have thought of that! Were they just lazy, stupid 'scroungers' living in bliss? No. What does being on benefits really look like for most people? Buying the cheapest versions of everything, scraping pennies together to get enough money to buy a 30p newspaper. Debilitating effect of repeated job rejections. The unrelenting stress of paying bills and the mortgage. My parents don't drink (except on special occasions) or smoke. We had no luxuries and scraped by paying the essentials. My mum is incredibly bright and used to be a member of MENSA with an IQ of 178. Now in her 60s with several health issues she literally does more housework, cooking and gardening than the rest of us put together. Does that sound like a lazy person to you? (I actually don't think there's any such thing as laziness but that's another blog!) http://samanthathesanevegan.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/no-such-thing-as-laziness.html Do you think my parents wanted to be in that situation? It's just so great at social gatherings when the first thing someone asks you is 'what do you do for a living?' and you have to answer 'nothing' isn't it!
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| the daily truth |
'Don't have kids if you can't afford them!' I agree and there are some people out there who are irresponsible but they are a small minority. Contraception doesn't always work and we don't always know the reasons why people have had a lot of children. Journalists cherry pick the most extreme examples in order to bolster their intolerant and judgemental views. I'm not claiming to be an expert on the economy but it's a minute proportion of the welfare budget (3%) that goes on benefits to unemployed people and 0.7% is claimed fraudulently. Far more money is lost to tax avoidance, as the graph illustrates.
Thankfully things are better and stable for us now, we're not poor any more but it infuriates me when seeing the way some (otherwise pleasant) people talk about the benefits system. Although most of my best friends and family are 'lefties' I know a few people who have voted conservative and they are not malicious or racist people. I feel like they have been misinformed but as I said I'm no expert myself. I'm open-minded and if anyone has a coherent argument for voting for conservatives I'd love to hear it and be less baffled!
Bet you can probably guess which way I'm voting in the EU referendum! LOL
I agree with your insights. My family has never been particularly well off, even though my step-dad had a full-time job while I was growing up.
ReplyDeleteWhen I left school at 16, I went straight to college. After college, I got a temporary job, then I was only on the dole for a couple of weeks before I got a full-time job. When I lost that job due to mental health issues, I ended up on benefits for years. There was a brief period of six months where I worked at Morrisons, but excluding that, I have been on benefits for just over ten years.
So, I could easily be seen as a benefit scrounger. I'm the lazy bastard who hasn't worked for a decade. However, what I have been doing in the meantime (excluding periods of severe depression) is taking on training courses, doing voluntary jobs, attending college, and going through therapy to resolve the underlying issues that affect my mental health.
I am not a lazy person. When my mental health gets on top of me, I get choked in a cloud of self-loathing, misanthropy, and apathy. During these periods, I can't even get out of bed, let alone work. So, I have been unable to maintain paid work.
During my brighter periods, I do what I can to build up work related skills, qualifications, and experience, because I foresee a day when I will be off benefits and working.
I don't go around telling everyone my reasons for being on benefits, and when asked, I usually define myself based on the voluntary work I do, or the qualifications I hold; there's less stigma that way.
It's difficult living on benefits. I can live fairly comfortably, but there are months where I have to borrow money until the next pay day to stay afloat. I feel guilty when I occasionally splurge on expensive treats for myself. Apparently, as someone on benefits, I'm supposed to just scrape by, and buying something that brings me happiness is a mortal sin.
Very well said. Good on you for speaking up about it. Really hope things improve for you. All humans deserve happiness and comfort, regardless of status. I can't stand some people's attitudes towards homeless people when they see them wanting something. They're not a different species and I don't know why it surprises people that they have a lot of the same desires as the non-homeless. Obviously addictions are not healthy but it's hard to blame people for it. We don't know how they ended up in that situation but somehow people think it's ok to look down on other people and judge
ReplyDeleteI know that you're not homeless but it just made me think about people in disadvantaged positions in general
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