This election result really is the gift that keeps on giving.
This Tory win will make me more and more disabled
What follows is more histrionics. Of course, all those people who voted Conservative don’t believe in a “fair”society and want to trample the “vulnerable” underfoot in their rush for personal riches. Or something…
Look; everyone – and I mean everyone – has at heart, self-interest. It’s called survival. When I get up at god-awful o’clock, travel halfway across the country to work and then face the M25 traffic on the way home before finally flopping into bed, I don’t do it for a “fair” society or because I’m desperately wanting to make the lot of the “vulnerable” better. I do it to keep a roof over my head and food on the table. If that sounds brutal, then that’s life. Get used to it. I’m not unique.
Now, I accept that there are people who cannot do what I do for a variety of reasons. And, as such, cannot command the same income – and I cannot command an income that others easily achieve. This is life. We all have our talents and must do what we can with them. I don’t have a problem with some of my taxes being used to help people who have fallen on hard times. I do expect those who are capable of working to do so – and if that means doing what I did a few years back and doing menial, low-paid, shitty work, then so be it. You do that rather than sponge off me and others such as I who are productive. While you are actively trying, I’m happy to give a leg-up. But I expect you to do your bit and get work. Any work.
Likewise, there are those who simply cannot work. Benefits keeps these people from destitution. However, I do not expect to provide anything more than subsistence. If you want more, you find your own way of supplementing that basic subsistence. I do not getup at god-awful o’clock to keep you in a lifestyle that you prefer. It’s to keep the wolf from the door and nothing else. If I want to do more, well, that’s up to me in a private capacity.
That said, as government thinks it is okay to steal money from me and give to charities, I don’t give to charities any more, so don’t expect too much on that score. At a very local level, I’ll dip my hands in my pocket to help a friend or relative who has fallen on hard times – but the same expectations apply; that they do their utmost to improve their lot. If my help assists them, then it’s been to the good. But I expect some personal responsibility to apply here as well.
So, no, the Tories will not make people more disabled. That is pure emotive bullshit. But, then, since that win last week, we’ve been inundated with emotive bullshit. At this rate, we could fertilise the whole of the third world and cease all foreign aid as a consequence…
Meanwhile in the authoritarian dystopia the Tories are unleashing after the election, cameron says that “UK is too tolerant and should interfere more in people’s lives even if they are obelying the law” but I guess it too much to expect so-called libertarians to give shit about that.
Just because I haven’t yet commented on this doesn’t mean I haven’t noticed. Well done with the tu quoque.
You didn’t read the article, did you? Or certainly did not have the wit to understand it. The author was drawing a distinction between the medical condition and the ability of the disabled person work and otherwise engage in society, which is determined by the support she receives. Thus a government that promises to cut support for disabled people makes it more difficult for them to engage in the world, or more disabled. It is a simple enough figurative use of the word that would expect a schoolboy to understand.
I read it. I fully understand it. It is a classic example of shroud waving. And, no, she will not be more disabled as a consequence of the election result. That is histrionics. Perhaps you should try reading what I write and attempt to comprehend before pointing an accusing finger?
Stephen – I read the article and all I could see was a reference to “planned welfare cuts” and nothing about “promises to cut support for the disabled”. Like Leg, I get up at silly o’clock, suffer the daily crush of commuting, sometimes on public transport, sometimes driving and then get home knackered and fall into bed at 9. I have a chronic medical condition causing me constant, severe pain but I’ve done dayshifts, backshifts, nightshifts and weird shift patterns just to put food on the table and a roof over our head. It is bloody difficult for me to “engage with the world” outside the daily grind because I’m too busy trying to earn a crust. What do I get to help me? Some of the highest taxes in the world. Those in need should and do get help. Those who provide that help get next to nothing in comparison but should at least not be pressed for more. Where do you think the money comes from to help people ” engage” if not from those who work hard to provide it? If the last labour government hadn’t spent like a druken sailor in a whorehouse then expectations and the over-inflated sense of entitlement prevalent in society could have been prudently managed to improve the lot for all. Now it’s a “we want it and we want it now” mentality which isn’t sustainable and will eventually lead to the providers turning on the recipients. Wake up!
“Bullshit baffles brains” – more true today than ever!
Anyone who has looked at history and seen the train-wreck that occurs every time socialism is applied and still comes to the conclusion that it has anything to offer is lacking in intellectual rigour.
As for the silly article – we do not know what benefits cuts will be applied, nor do we know that they would have been reversed had Labour gained power. The whole thing is supposition based upon the fact that the author is unhappy with the election result. Well, I’ve witnessed plenty of those and sucked it up.
Over the past five years, I’ve seen my income halve.. I have accepted this without complaint. Those who are benefiting from my enforced generosity have no right to expect anything different, frankly. When they complain that those of us on a falling income are expected to keep coughing up to people who demand that they do not likewise suffer falling incomes, my irritation tends to show through.