Just When All Seems Well...
And I am told to live for today and not think too far ahead, over the months people have said don't worry...one of those dreaded brown envelopes has dropped on the mat to tell me that I will receive a phone call soon, then a dreaded form to fill in, then possibly(I'd say very likely)an assessment and then I will be transferred to the new benefit that replaces what I receive or again knowing what this Government is up to they'll transfer me so I come off what I now receive and will be on something totally different. With many more conditions and a reduced income.
It's all up in the air and very scary. I thought that I may be able to absorb the changes coming or delay the thought of having a lodger but now these ideas may have to be brought forward if they feasible.
It's all up in the air and very scary. I thought that I may be able to absorb the changes coming or delay the thought of having a lodger but now these ideas may have to be brought forward if they feasible.
posted by The Great Gildersleeve | 12:54 pm
13 Comments:
In New York there are pensioners still stuck at the top of tower blocks with no powere, heating or lighting.
In Spain,Portgual,Greece,Italy there people being evicted and being made homeless every hour of the day.
So unless you can do something to help yourself, I'm afraid you will have to put up with a smaller portion of the rapidly shrinking world cake - just like the rest of us.
Oh BTW in New York they are in minus tempreratures, winter has arrived early
I know what you are saying and I do feel for others. But I don't try to score points off others who are suffering or compare one against another.
The new austere measures coming in will reduce the income of many. There will be a cap on what you are entitled to.
So I already expected my income to reduce drastically. Whilst at the same time they ask for more from all of us. I expected a drop in my income by at least £30 a week probably more...
Perhaps you can see why I invested in gadgets that use less energy if I want to have a hot meal.
I try not to use the central heating and dive under the duvet or wear lots of layered clothing from the charity shops, have built up a store of food so I spend less, I eat less too sometimes one meal so when you say you have to help yourself I think I have been doing that already.
My only luxury is access to the internet and a radio. That costs me approx 90p a day and I will be looking to see if I can bring that down further when my present cointract ends...but what can you do for such a small amount of money?
If I have to give that up, how miserable will life be with no entertainment to occupy your mind?
It is not as if I drink/smoke/take drugs etc...
The trouble is that most of the jobs available are low paid, too many are applying for what there is so many still need to ask for help from the State.
More are being brought into the jobs market which cannot cope as it is. Some help that I could apply for I am unable to for another 7 years but I have learned today that they are changing the date of entitlement so that counts me and many other out and I would now have to wait another 4 years(totalling 11 years)and you can bet they'll keep putting that date further back.
You may survive on a low wage if rents, council taxes, utility bills and the price of food were to stop increasing in price but you can only cut back to a certain point.
And they keep bringing in new ideas that will reduce what help is available still further.
Much of what I buy is own brand, low priced variety or on offer. Sometimes items that are yellow stickered because they are near their sell by date.
If you talk to many what annoys the most is the amount of money we put into the European Market and the amount of foreign aid that has been given to countries that were not considered in need of it, that it was being done for political reasons.
There is report out today that suggests that a lot of the public money that bailed out the banks will never be recovered and that at the time our treasury did not have the skills to deal with the crisis.
I have not gone into the problems of the countries you have mentioned as it is very political but I know quite a lot about what is happening in Europe which is largely being ignored by the media in the UK.
We have food banks in this country and across Europe. Appeals from charities like the Red Cross now trying to help people not in places the other side of the world but in countries like Spain.
Thanks to suicides in Spain some banks are now saying they will not evict some people from their homes and give them some extra time to try and sort out their problems(I think I heard they would allow 2 years)
Some who are working in Greece are now on £1.70 an hour but still being asked to contribute more in what would be similar to our National Insurance...There is much, much more...
I don't believe that we are being told how bad things are in the UK and a lot of information is being kept from the public.
I'm not even sure that those in charge of our economy really know what they are doing.
And let us not forget officially employers are not supposed to distgriminate against the disabled or show ageism but who would take on someone that is older and has health issues if they can take on someone who is fit?
It is said that people will always be better off financially by working and believe me I did not ask to be ill but the truth is often you are not often better off and if you are we could be talking of say perhaps 50p and once say the price of a bus fare rises, rent increases by £1 etc...that is wiped out. Or earning a penny more could stop you being entitled to help.
We should be better off when working but when was the last time many saw a wage rise. It was only a few weeks ago there was an argument about the benefits/disadvantge of the Minimum National Wage and whether you can live on it.
The overal opinion was that it is good that an employer cannot pay less than that would it is not a wage you can say you are able to live on.
And that employers should be paying more than that. But many depend on the State to make up the wages of their employees.
Just because it is bad in another country, you should try to do the best for your own.
TBH I am unsure why anyone wishes to put themselves forward as a politician with all the problems that are being faced...
I am unsure when the s*** hits the fan we will see unrest on British streets and the British public shaken out of it's apathy...
Your hoping for anarchy on the streets? jeezus!
just where the hell will that get you? who is going to patch up your smashed windows and unblock your drains?
If it does happen you will not be able to retreat into your world you will be expected to participate, do you really want that?
No matter how bad things get...they can always be worse. That's true. It never takes long to find someone who's worse off than you.
That being said...regardless of how bad someone else's situation is...your problems are still your problems and they have to be dealt with.
I agree with Gildy, I don't see how it's helpful to withhold compassion for someone simply because he's not worse off than others. It's sad and a d*mn shame that folks have to go through a rough time.
For most folks it invokes empathy towards others and we try and hold one another up...if only emotionally.
I do not understand this "blame the poor" attitude that's becoming so prevalent in the world. It's bad enough being poor and/or ill and dealing with all of those challenges...but then adding the insult of telling someone it's all their fault is just beyond me. There's plenty of blaming going on without adding to the mix.
And I did not read that as Gildy saying that folks should riot...only that it's probable.
If past behavior are predictors of future behavior...he probably has a point.
Jan
No I'm not, hopefully it will all be done at the ballot box. If you can find a party that is not simailar to each other. We don't have a democracy.
We've just had the election of Police Commisioners and hardly anyone turned out, perhaps the lowest turnout in peacetime. There's apathy for you, probably because it is not seen as important and experts believe that people were happy with the previous way of doing things.
One area seems to have had more cases of spoilt papers than ever before suggesting people just did not like this change but hit people in the pocket especially regarding the essentials of life like staying warm, a roof over your head and food, there will be a reaction.
Thanks Jan,
We posted at the same time...You are right, I was not saying get out on the street and riot, just that it is likely.
It could just be a march of some kind...
Questions have been asked as to why we have not already been out there making our views known. Usually all demonstrations are organised by the unions and public workers. One reason could be that your contract makes it even harder to make your views known.
Our so called democracy is the best we have but is not great but better than some. Anecdotally what I hear on the street is totally different to what the media and the politicians are saying.
The public's apathy is probably because they feel that no matter how often they take direct action those in power ignore them.
Yeah, lots of folks feel that way here too.
We just went through one of the worst elections I've ever seen...they spent millions of dollars and changed absolutely nothing.
When you think of how many folks that money could have actually helped...it's a cryin' shame. :o(
Jan
We're not that different you know...but the media as much as anything creates the stereotypical view we have of the States and vice versa.
I think at present we have in Government the equivelent of your Republican party but over here our main parties are so similar we don't have much choice(of course they are only in power because a smaller party is propping them up)and today in a number of bye-elections and a different serious of elections has resulted in what usually happens the alternative main party has been voted in but with one of the lowest turnouts in history.
They would be the same as your Democrats. Well as close as we can make comparisons...
All we do is virtually swop between the two every few years...Our Labour party was always supposed to be on the side of the ordinary guy in the street and the Conservatives for the business man...that's in very broad terms...
Same as here, Gildy. Republicans (Conservatives) and Democrats (Liberals) are becoming one.
It's the same girl in a different dress! :oP
Jan
They say many of our ideas come from the States so perhaps some of our's will come back in your direction like...the Bedroom Tax :0(
The company doing the medical assessments on the ill and disabled are in serious trouble in the States too and I believe they have been taken to court, it hasn't happened here...yet! Not sure why.
If those most affected cannot afford to do so it is a wonder some charities haven't tried.
Anectodatal but people have been found fit and died not long after or their illness has become worse.
If successful after a medical they have been known to call you back in within weeks/months and you have to go through the procedure all over again.
They say appeal but sometimes appealing can mean if you are partially successful that can be overturned so you lose the lot.
Some of your do come across the Pond. They've been trying for a long time to do a universal health care...they just can't figure out how to pay for it.
I think a three-tiered system would work better here. Folks who can afford it pay for their own and the poor have Medicaid now. The biggest problem are those that are now falling through the cracks. If they would let them have Medicaid on a sliding scale everyone would covered without having to rework the whole mess.
What Obamacare is doing is making employers provide health care which is fine for big business but its killing medium to small sized business (which, by the way makes up well over a third of the employers here) and many just won't hire because they can't afford to pay the forced benefits.
It makes no sense...especially at a time when people desperately need jobs.
As for the Bedroom Tax...I think y'all can keep that one. :o)
Jan
Post a Comment
<< Home