Friday 24 June 2011

I hate capitalism

Signing time again. Interestingly, though interestingly not, no problems to report. The stairs remain heavily fortified, but now the Jobcentre is on Twitter. Not a bad idea I suppose, though I wish they'd advertise their jobs properly. Not much to report then.
When I were a lad at school, one popular method of keeping us in line (IE doing our homework) was to warn us thus: 'do you want to end up working in a factory?', as if to suggest that not achieving to the best of our ability would damn us to a life of drudgery. That working in manual labour was to be avoided and scorned. Pretty ridiculous, though I wouldn't want to do that for a living - but those that do shouldn't be made pariahs or paid poorly etc.
How far we have fallen then that the unemployed are then taught the exact opposite.
There is such a moral and emotional aspect to people's view of the unemployed and those on welfare that discussion is impossible. People should be grateful for the opportunity to work in factories, despite being raised to believe the complete opposite. We are taught to aspire to be the best we can be (IE go to university), but when the cold winds of economic fate blow against us we must suddenly reprogram ourselves to the contrary. As if that's even possible.
In 30 years we have gone from aspiring to greatness to an internet age of puritan morality and Victorian workhouse dogma. Unemployment is the fault of the person; a sign of moral weakness. It's not the fault of those in power who refuse to participate in their own game of capitalism buy withholding taxes and undertaking regressive social policy (such as the continued war on drugs). Those least responsible for the economic failings of capitalism and the greed of its high priests are held most accountable; the devil makes work for idle hands and those hands most idle belong to welfare claimants - even if they can't use their hands.

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